Translation exposes aspects of language that can easily be ignored, renewing the sense of the proximity and inseparability of language and thought. The ancient quarrel between philosophy and literature was an early expression of a self-understanding of philosophy that has, in some quarters at least, survived the centuries. This book explores the idea of translation as a philosophical theme and as an important feature of philosophy and practical life, especially in relation to the work of Stanley Cavell.

The essays in this volume explore philosophical questions about translation, especially in the light of the work of Stanley Cavell. They take the questions raised by translation to be of key importance not only for philosophical thinking but for our lives as a whole. Thoreaus enigmatic remark The truth is translated reveals that apparently technical matters of translation extend through human lives to remarkable effect, conditioning the ways in which the world comes to light. The experience of the translator exemplifies the challenge of judgement where governing rules and principles are incommensurable; and it shows something of the ways in which words come to us, opening new possibilities of thought. This book puts Cavells rich exploration of these matters into conversation with traditions of pragmatism and European thought. Translation, then, far from a merely technical matter, is at work in human being, and it is the means of humanisation. The book brings together philosophers and translators with common interests in Cavell and in the questions of language at the heart of his work.

Naoko Saito is Associate Professor of Education at Kyoto University, Japan. Her publications include The Gleam of Light: Moral Perfectionism and Education in Dewey and Emerson (2005).

Paul Standish is Professor of Philosophy of Education and Head of the Centre for Philosophy and Education at UCL Institute of Education, UK. His many publications include The Therapy of Education (2007), co-authored with Paul Smeyers and Richard Smith, and The Philosophy of Nurse Education (2007), co-edited with John Drummond. With Naoko Saito he has also co-edited Stanley Cavell and the Education of Grownups (2012) and Education and the Kyoto School of Philosophy: Pedagogy for Human Transformation (2012). He was previously Editor of the Journal of Philosophy of Education and is Chair Elect of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.

1. IntroductionPaul Standish and Naoko Saito / 2. Philosophy as Translation and the Realism of the ObscureNaoko Saito/ 3. Stanley Cavell, the Ordinary, and the Democratization of Culture(s)Sandra Laugier/ 4. Speaking Out of a Sense of Our ImpoverishmentVincent Colapietro/ 5.Rebuking HopelessnessPaul Standish/ 6. From Radical Translation to Radical Translatability: Education in an Age of InternationalizationJoris Vlieghe/ 7. Problems in TranslationIan Munday/8. Pragmatism and the Language of Suffering: from James to Rorty (and Orwell) and back againSami Pihlström / 9. Communication as Translation: Reading Dewey After CavellMegan J. Laverty / 10. The Strange in the Familiar: Educations Encounter with UntranslatablesClaudia Ruitenberg / 11. Immigrancy of the Self, Continuing Education: Recollection in CavellsLittle Did I Knowand Terrence Malicks The Tree of Life Naoko Saito / 12. The Philosophy of PawnbrokingPaul Standish /Notes on contributors / Index