Draft Translations
The Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Fund offers access to a number of translations of Rosenstock-Huessy’s works as yet unedited and unpublished. The Fund does not endorse or promote the translations offered, but is making them available so that those who cannot read German or English may have access to as much of Rosenstock-Huessy’s work as possible.
Translators who wish to add material to this page may contact the Fund here. Please note that the copyright in any translation is held by the translator, whose work may not be cited or reprinted without written permission. Those interested in translating Rosenstock-Huessy’s work into languages other than German or English should read this.
Please note that as August 2022, Amazon will no longer accept MOBI files for Kindle e-readers; Kindle users should instead download the EPUB files. We will be deleting the MOBI files from the website shortly.
Out of Revolution
革命のヨーロッパ
Translator: Naoki Miyajima (宮島 直機)
Out of Revolution, first published in 1938, was a reconfiguration of Rosenstock-Huessy’s 1931 Die Europäischen Revolutionen for an American readership. Subtitled “Autobiography of Western Man,” the book portrays a thousand years of European history as one long story, united by a sequence of linked revolutionary events. (Like its German predecessor, it was based on the vision that came to Rosenstock-Huessy while he served as an officer before Verdun in 1917.) Rather than working chronologically, Rosenstock-Huessy began the American version with the Russian Revolution, still much in the news when he arrived in the US in 1933, and worked backwards through the other great revolutions that had shaped the nations of Europe to depict them as movements in a single polyphonic work of the human spirit.
We are happy to offer Naoki Miyajima’s 2020 translation of Out of Revolution into Japanese here for free download. Professor Miyajima’s work is a major achievement and the first translation of any work of Rosenstock-Huessy’s into Japanese.
The Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Fund dedicates the ebook of Miyajima Naoki’s translation to the memory of our friend and former board-member, Feico Houweling. Because Feico had translated Out of Revolution into Dutch, he was able to assist Professor Miyajima with his translation in turn, and they worked together until Feico’s death in 2018.
We also wish to express our gratitude for the work done by Ms. Humie Nakamura, editor-in-chief of Tousuishobou Publishing Company, and her assistant, Mr. Jyuukiya Kakizawa, in formatting the Japanese edition offered here.
この日本語版は、刀水書房の中村文江さんの編集によるものです。そのお力添えに関係者一同、心から感謝しています。また、助手を務めてくださった柿澤樹希也君のご努力にも感謝します
訳者からのお断ことわり
この本の価値は,日本におけるヨーロッパ史研究に欠けた視点を提示し ていることにあると考えています。まずは第一次世界大戦がヨーロッパ人に対して持った意味の深刻さ。第1章をお読み頂ければ判りますが,ヨー ロッパ人にとって第一次世界大戦は,さしずめ日本人にとっての太平洋戦争だったようです。日本人にとって第一次世界大戦は,せいぜい青島のド イツ軍を攻撃したくらいで済んでおり,ドイツ領だった太平洋諸島は労せずして入手しました(それが太平洋における野放図な戦線拡大の原因になってい ます)。しかし著者が書いている通り,この本の構想は第一次世界大戦の 戦場体験から来ています。第一次世界大戦がヨーロッパ人にとって持った 深刻な意味に対する問い掛け,これが我々日本人のヨーロッパ研究で欠落 している重要な視点の1つです。
それに日本のヨーロッパ研究に決定的に欠けているのは,ヨーロッパ人 の考え方を決める上で重要な役割を果たしているキリスト教的な判断枠組 み(つまりはキリスト教の教義)です。たとえば堀米庸三の『西欧精神の探求』は(NHK が放送大学を開始するに当たって企画した試験放送で,のちにNHK 出 版が1 冊の本として刊行),「西欧精神の探求」と謳いながら実は「精神の探求」になっていません。「制度の探求」に留まっています。
その点で,ヒュシーのこの本は「精神の探求」そのものです。「まさか そこまでキリスト教(西欧に話を限るとすればカトリック教)の影響があった とは!」というのが日本人の正直な反応ではないでしょうか。我々日本人 は自分たちの「迷信」を棚に上げて,どこかでキリスト教を「迷信」と考 えている様に思えて仕方ありません。創造神の存在や処女からキリストが 生まれたとか,死んでからキリストが生き返ったなどといったことが事実 か否かはともかく,彼らが前提にしている考え方の枠組みはキリスト教(な いしはカトリック教)の教義であって,これを無視して「精神の探求」は不 可能です(同様に日本人の自然崇拝や祖霊信仰を無視して日本人の「精神の探求」も不可能でしょう)。
この本の内容は難物でした。山本七平を読んで少しは一神教のことを 知っているつもりでしたが,判らないことばかりでした。バーマンを訳し たときは,まだ法制度(「制度の探求」!)がテーマでしたから何とかなり ましたが(『法と革命』I,II 中央大学出版部),それこそ「精神」を共有しない 訳者にヒュシーの書いていることは謎だらけでした。オランダ語訳を完成 されたハウエリンクMr. Feico Houweling 氏の助力が無ければ,とても翻訳 を続けることは出来なかったでしょう。引用されている文章の典拠,難し い英文の解説,興味深いが意味がよく判らない図表の説明など(豊富な図 表と地図の存在もこの本の特徴です。),何とか訳者なりに理解して日本語で 表現し直すことが出来たのは,ひとえにハウエリンク氏のおかげです。また昨年,癌で亡くなられる前に後事を託すということでハウエリンク氏に 紹介して頂いたデルフト大学のクレーゼンProf. Otto Kroesen 教授にもお世 話になりました。
理想を言えば立派な本の形で読んで頂きたかったのですが,諸般の事情 で本の形にするのは諦めざるを得ず,ヒュシー財団のサイトに掲載して頂 くことにしました。ヒュシーのお孫さんたちが管理・運営されている財団,とくにレイモンド= ヒュシーMr. Raymond Huessy 氏には感謝したいと思い ます(ちなみに氏は許雷蒙という中国名をお持ちですので,以下では許雷蒙先生 とします)。このような形で翻訳を公表できることになったのは,ひとえに 許雷蒙先生のおかげです。
許雷蒙先生といえば,翻訳の過程で難解なヒュシーの英文理解に苦慮す る小生を助けて頂いたことにも感謝しています。とくに第15 章:アメリ カ革命とエピローグの第16 ~ 19 章の訳出に際しては,さんざんお世話に なりました。
訳者がこの本(邦訳タイトルは『革命のヨーロッパ』)のことを知ったのは,バーマンの『法と革命I, II』を訳したときでした(東方正教会とカトリック 教会の違いを見事に説明した『法と革命I』には,かつてワルシャワ大学・日本語 学科講師ヘンリク= リプシッツHenryk Lipszyc 氏に紹介して頂いた山本七平『ユダ ヤ人と日本人』以上に感心させられました)。定年退職までの数年間でまず『法 と革命II』,ついで『法と革命I』を翻訳しました。
そして定年退職後にやることに決めていたのが『革命のヨーロッパ』の 翻訳でした。しかしバーマンの本と違って,こちらは本当に悪戦苦闘する 羽目になりました。何度も途中で投げ出したくなりましたが,そのつど気 を取り直すことが出来たのは,ハウエリンク氏の丁寧なご支援・助言のお かげでした。またハウエリンク氏が亡くなられてからは,許雷蒙先生に筆 舌に尽くしがたい支援・助言を頂きました。
我々と彼らのあいだで前提になっている「精神」が違っているからなの でしょう,私にはチンプンカンプンの文章も,ハウエリンク氏や許雷蒙先生にはピンと来るようなのです(それに許雷蒙先生は孫の立場でいろいろ見聞 きされていたようで,そんな逸話めいた話も役に立ちました)。文章によっては 「翻訳」というより「説明」になっている箇所が多々あります(前提になっ ている「精神」が違っている日本の読者に,機械的な単語の置き換えは無意味です)。
また不要と思われる繰り返し,説明のやり直し,邦訳の読者には不要と思 われる説明箇所は省略してあります。いわゆる「忠実な」翻訳ではありません。書かれている内容を読みやすい日本語で表現することを心掛けまし た。また原書では,各章が番号なしの節に区分されていますが,邦訳では 節にも番号をふってあります。文中でどこか参照して欲しい箇所を指示す るのに訳書のページ数を挙げられないので,章と節の番号で参照すべき箇 所を指示しました。
この翻訳は,あくまでも訳者が理解できた範囲で日本語に表現し直した ものです。訳者が誤解している可能性もあります。まったくの的外れとい うことはないと思いますが,「ない」と言い切れる自信はありません(特 に「エピローグ」の第17 章と第18 章)。なお,華麗・多彩な古典からの引用 は(著者は典拠を示すことにあまり関心がなかったようで,ほとんど典拠が示され ていません。そんな時にお世話になったのがハウエリンク氏と許雷蒙先生でした),なるだけ既存の権威ある邦訳から引用することにしました。ただし全ての 古典に邦訳があるとは限らず,あっても引用個所を特定できず,訳者の下 手な翻訳で済ませている箇所もあります。また訳語で誤解されそうなもの,あるいは原語を示した方がよさそうなものは原語を訳語のあとに併記して あります。少々,煩雑になりますがご了解ください。
なおドイツ語とフランス語の単語やフレーズの意味について,中央大学 法学部の親愛なる元同僚の平山令二先生(ドイツ関係)と小林正幸先生(オー ストリア関係),相田淑子先生(フランス関係)にお世話になりました。末尾 ながら厚く御礼,申し上げます。また,聖書からの引用は,岩波書店の旧 約聖書翻訳委員会訳・新約聖書翻訳委員会訳を用いました。訳文も判りや すく,解説も詳しくて素人にはお勧めです。
Naoki Miyajima is a professor emeritus of political science at Chuo University in Hachioji, where he taught the modern political history of Europe. He previously translated Harold J. Berman’s Law and Revolution into Japanese.
Read online: HTML
Download as PDF: pdf (8.51 Mb)
Download for Kindle: mobi (23.24 Mb)
Download for other e-readers: epub (10.16 Mb)
Andragogik
Andragogy
Translator: Raymond Huessy
“Andragogik” (First published in the first volume of the Archiv für Erwachsenenbildung, the house journal of the Hohenrodter Bund (1924): 248-276. Reprinted in Im Kampf um die Erwachsenenbildung (1912-1926), Leipzig, Quelle & Meyer, 1926.)
Although examining a narrow subject, the emergence of adult education after 1918, Rosenstock-Huessy draws on a millennium of legal history and turns the discussion into an argument against idealism and the Aristotelian sundering of theory and practice.
The split is embodied in the approach to adult education taken by the old bourgeoisie and the working class. At Count Keyserling’s School of Wisdom, the well-to-do student could endeavor to “find himself” in contemplation of the eternal verities—the product was to be a truly individual personality; at the workers’ council schools, the “students” were taught primarily the practical applications of their new legal status—the product was a “typical” conscious worker.
Rosenstock-Huessy scorned both the attempt to recreate the old order and the attempt to enter that order after it had ended in decay. Although he was passionately attached to the old order and its historical origins, he could see that the old order needed to be replaced, not restored, if the people themselves were to experience regeneration.
Andragogy is an essay that could only have been written by someone who believed that men have only as much future as they have past: although examining a seemingly narrow subject, the emergence of adult education after the war, Rosenstock-Huessy draws on a millennium of legal history and turns the discussion into an argument against German idealism and its Aristotelian sundering of theory and practice.
The split is embodied in the approach to adult education taken by the old bourgeoisie and the working class. At Count Keyserling’s School of Wisdom, the well-to-do student could endeavor to “find himself” in contemplation of the eternal verities—the product was to be a truly individual personality; at the workers’ council schools, the “students” were taught primarily the practical applications of their new legal status—the product was a “typical” conscious worker.
Keyserling rejected the Church and the University as failures, but attempted to renew spiritual life with the same cult of individualism that had poisoned the institutions he rejected. And because he failed to see the difference between a personal truth and a truth which can be taught, Rosenstock-Huessy argues, he was doomed to repeat their failure.
“Unless the immense difference between truth and doctrine is understood, we are left with the impure mixture which youth today rejects for its insincerity. Scholasticism once sacrificed truth to doctrine; modern science on the other hand sacrifices doctrine to truth. Both have had disastrous effects on the life of the people.”
“The problem of continuity, inheritance, and transmittal is the problem that saps our existing institutions.”
The council schools were concentrating on awakening legal awareness in “the” worker, at a time when the institutions of justice were in uproar and decay. “Make no mistake,” Rosenstock-Huessy adds, “inflation is the most thorough destruction of state-controlled justice to take place in Germany since the interregnum.” Since workers accepted the mental habits of bourgeois spiritual life along with the other fashions and foibles of the class, they were in danger of paying the price of an empty heart for a head full of obsolete ideas. Since compulsory education had deprived the people of the daily experience of justice and law, the lack was now to be made up by more schooling.
“With the triumph of the Enlightenment in the 19th century, the life of law and its spiritual content reached the people only in its idealistic gaseous form, as politics: Law is what we accept; politics is what we want.”
Although everyone sought to regenerate society, each class tried to do so in isolation and exaggeration of its own type, and all proved impotent. They failed because they repeated German idealism’s fatal mistake of ignoring its origin in the pain and sorrow of a lost war. Rosenstock-Huessy calls for a school based on the knowledge of death, for men ready to move beyond the graveyard of their dreams. At this School of Events, the classes would no longer turn in on themselves, but toward each other and a common future based on shared suffering. For, viewed over time, Aristotle’s dichotomy of theory and practice disappears: Aristotle’s teaching and Alexander’s actions belong together; Paul lived Christ’s teaching, but taught Christ’s life.
Rosenstock-Huessy could scorn the attempts to recreate the old order on the one hand, and to enter the old order after its end on the other, becuse he was so passionately attached to the old order and its distant origins, and yet was able to see that they needed replacement, not restoration, if the people themselves were to experience regeneration.
Raymond Huessy has published occasional essays on Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s works and colleagues since 1982; in 1987–88, he and Konrad von Moltke organised the centennial conference on Rosenstock-Huessy’s life and work at Dartmouth College; more recently, he spent several years preparing his grandparents’ papers for deposit at Dartmouth’s Rauner Library. His essay “Eugen and Margrit Rosenstock-Huessy in ‘Rosenzweig Studies’” appeared in Culture, Theory, and Critique in 2015; his translation of Rosenstock-Huessy’s Die Umwandlung des Wortes Gottes in die Sprache des Menschengeschlechts was published as The Fruit of Our Lips: the Transformation of God’s Word into the Speech of Mankind by Wipf and Stock in 2021.
Read online: HTML
Download as PDF: pdf (123.93 Kb)
Download for Kindle: mobi (225.09 Kb)
Download for other e-readers: epub (68.02 Kb)
Die Zahlensprache der Physik
The Numerical Language of Physics
Translator: John Baldwin
“Die Zahlensprache der Physik” is based on the 1947 essay “The Metabolism of Science, with the ‘Carmen Arvale’ in translation,” and appears both as “Unser Anspruch auf Wissenschaft oder der Rechtstitel der Physik,” in Der Atem des Geistes (1951), pp. 167-235, and in Die Sprache des Menschengeschlechts, Bd. 2 (1964), pp. 221-275. The translaton is undated.
John Baldwin is the former William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Science in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, and has held visiting professorships in Stockholm and Göteborg, Sweden, and elsewhere.
“One of John Baldwin’s most prized trophies is a small, yellowed postcard that is taped to the file cabinet in his office in Syracuse University’s Center for Science and Technology. The postcard was sent by world-renowned chemist William von Eggers Doering, now a professor emeritus at Harvard University. In barely decipherable, faded ink are the words: ‘What a beautifully conceived piece of research’ and a request for a reprint of a paper Baldwin published in the Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry in 1983. The paper resolved a fundamental problem in a field that had been unsettled for decades.”
See: https://news.syr.edu/blog/2009/11/02/su-chemist-to-receive-prestigious-award-from-american-chemical-society/
Read online: HTML
Download as PDF: pdf (5.22 Mb)
Download for Kindle: MOBI
Download for other e-readers: EPUB
Ein Komma
The Life of Life: a prologue
Translator: Konrad von Moltke [?]
“Ein Komma,” based on the 1945 essay, “The Life of Life: a Prologue,” appears in Die Sprache des Menschengeschlechts, volume I (pp. 269-94). The translation is undated and unsigned, and has a notation by Clint Gardner that the piece is “not exactly the same” as the original. It is also unclear who the translator was; there are notes in Konrad von Moltke’s handwriting in the MS; the translation may have been Konrad’s, or Konrad may have edited a translation by Rosenstock-Huessy himself.
Konrad von Moltke was the founding director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy and founder and editor of the journal International Environmental Affairs (1989-1998). After receiving degrees from Dartmouth and the University of Göttingen, he began his career as a professor of history at SUNY-Buffalo; his involvement in educational policy led him to work with the European Cultural Foundation, which led in turn to his selection to direct the IEEP. The original office was in Bonn, Germany, but to establish the IEEP as European, von Moltke opened branch offices in London and Paris. After returning to the United States and settling in Norwich (VT) in 1984, von Moltke was an adjunct professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College, a visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam, and senior fellow at Dartmouth’s Institute of International Environmental Governance, at the Conservation Foundation in Washington (DC), and the International Institute For Sustainable Development in Winnipeg (MB), Canada.
Read online: HTML
Download as PDF: pdf (2.31 Mb)
Download for Kindle: MOBI
Download for other e-readers: EPUB