奎因的意义怀疑论及其对翻译的启示

Quine's Skepticism about Meaning and Its Implications for Translation

在语言意义问题上,奎因是怀疑论者,他既反对把意义视为柏拉图实体的指称论,也反对把意义视为心理实体的观念论,这二者被他称为语言的"博物馆神话"。他从本体论承诺"没有同一性就没有实体"的原则出发,对意义是实体的观点进行了批驳,否定了意义的同一性;他在"原始翻译"和"翻译手册"的思想实验中,论证了著名的"不确定性"论题。本文拟在解析奎因意义怀疑论的基础上,借用奎因的理论论证以下几点:(1)在不背离原文"整体言语倾向"为基本衡量标准的前提下,多重翻译标准和多种翻译方法都是并行不悖的;(2)翻译理论作为一个集合体面对经验法庭,集合体内部的各种陈述在逻辑上相互联系,对于翻译理论的选择和评价不存在唯一确定的标准;(3)实践上,我们应该从"不确定性"的理论世界走向追求"确定性"翻译的实践世界。

Quine is a meaning skeptic. He is against the referential theory as well as the ideational theory, both of which are metaphorically referred to by him as'the myth of a museum'. His refutation that meaning is an entity is based on one of the principle of his ontological commitment——No entity without identity. He aimed his indeterminacy thesis against all classical semantic notions indiscriminately, and proved his thesis with the help of the thought experiment: radical translation and translational manual. His skepticism about meaning has multiple implications for translation: 1) Different translation criteria, as well as different translation strategies, may co-exist without conflict,if 'the translations should be compatible with the totality of speech dispositions'is recognized as a basic criterion of judgment; 2) It is the collective body of translation theories that face the court of experience, and there is no determinate criterion in terms of choosing and evaluating a certain theory. 3) With the awareness of the indeterminacy of translation, we can better pursue the'determinate'translation.