LES LIMITES DE LA TRADUCTION SELON LA THEORIE LINGUISTIQUE EPICURIENNE
THE LIMITS OF TRANSLATION ACCORDING TO EPICUREAN LINGUISTIC THEORY

Summary/Abstract: For Epicurus the word is associated with the concept it expresses in an irrefutable, physiological way. His conviction concerning the existence of language presupposes two stages: the natural and original creation and its following elaboration. The factors that define the original creation of each language are based on the notion of place. As such, human nature physiologically created the language in relation to the passions and impressions that each place had to stimulate. The following human elaboration had the task of clarifying the most ambiguous concepts and the things that were invisible. From this axiomatic postulate, the paper proposes a presentation of the Epicurean theory on the creation of language, relying in particular on its conviction that the original nucleus in every language, which establishes the word-concept association, derives from place. Thus, the passions and impressions that each place imposes on language cannot be transferred through translation. This is mainly because they constitute an experience, which is the only basis that allows the irrefutable and physiological association between word and concept. The communion between two people who speak the same language occurs through the communion of an experience because this experience is common. In modern times and by following Epicurus, a question arises: can East and West speak the same “language”? Is it true that East and West do not have any experience in common? For Epicurus, knowledge is a common experience for all humans though language is not.

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