Husserl’s Phenomenology Through His Italian Translations

Abstract

One peculiar way of embarking on the study of a particular philosophy is to critically examine how it has been translated into other languages. In this essay I do not wish to enter into an exercise in translation theory: rather, by setting out from my concrete work as a translator, I will try to reconstruct certain aspects of the process of translating Husserl in Italy (which is, partly, also the history of his reception in this country), in order to determine what this can tell to us about Husserlian philosophy. I will proceed by key points, concentrating on some of the decisive moments of the translation and reception of Husserlian thought in Italy, with particular reference to two complementary aspects of this reception: the subject of history on the one hand, and the problem of logic on the other.