The invisible ubiquity of philosophy in translation studies: towards a re-articulation of the discipline’s relationship with philosophy

Abstract

The relationship between philosophy, translation, and translation studies has not been explicitly articulated. This article starts from the premise that philosophy is foundational to any academic discipline, and translation studies can critically reflect on itself by engaging its object of study and foundations philosophically. Three distinctions are offered as possible ways of articulating the relationship between translation studies and philosophy: (1) Philosophically informed research in translation studies / Philosophy of translation; (2) Philosophy of translation / Philosophy of translation studies; and (3) Philosophy as an imported doctrine / Disciplinary philosophizing. While philosophy of translation asks what translation is (ontology), philosophy of translation studies examines how we can know about translation (epistemology). The proposed distinctions ascribe philosophical agency to translation studies scholars and presuppose that philosophy can also emerge from within translation studies through disciplinary philosophizing. The proposed distinctions enable addressing ontological and epistemological underpinnings of translation studies.