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fleur blanche
avis de domiciliation
Jan 23, 2008 07:24
16 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

penser l'action - une imposture?

French to English Art/Literary Philosophy French philosophy
This is the title of a philosophy lecture. I thought we might have some fun attempting to turn it into a pithy English title - plus, it would help me out!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 thinking before doing - an illusion?
3 +4 Reflecting on action - an act of deception?
3 thinking action - a masquerade?

Discussion

David BUICK (asker) Jan 23, 2008:
Listening suggests "can we really isolate thought from action?" Or, perhaps, to go down rufinus' line, "can we talk the talk without walking the walk?"
Attorney DC Bar Jan 23, 2008:
Who you be callin' a Anglo-Saxon, Jackson?

Tonto and the Lone Ranger are surrounded by Apaches. The masked man turns to his old friend and says "Looks like we're in a lot of trouble, Tonto".
The answer comes back slowly:"What do you mean we, white man?"
Attorney DC Bar Jan 23, 2008:
"Man of action,
Lyin' in traction,
Thinking too hard,
Didn't see no car.."
David BUICK (asker) Jan 23, 2008:
And there you have the difference between French and Anglo-Saxon thought in a nutshell. I sincerely regret not daring to use that.
Attorney DC Bar Jan 23, 2008:
"Thinking 'bout doin', who you foolin'?
You be dissin' yo'self, ruinin' yo' healfh"
David BUICK (asker) Jan 23, 2008:
Thanks rufinus. That is actually my client's site :o . I just seem to be translating the press release retrospectively... and now I'll have to listen out of professional conscience!!
CMJ_Trans / Alain Pommet: I did think about "is looking before you leap hypocritical?" or something along those lines, but I thought that might be stretching things a bit.
Attorney DC Bar Jan 23, 2008:
Sorry, that URL was incomplete. Should be

http://www.esc-rennes.fr/actualites/penser-l-action-une-impo...

The speaker is surrounded by ferns, giving an interesting Jurassic effect to what otherwise promises to be a fairly dry lecture.
CMJ_Trans (X) Jan 23, 2008:
isn't this more about calculated rather than spontaneous action, on the lines of if you think before deciding what action to take you are not being true to yourself : calculated acrtion, a pretence
Attorney DC Bar Jan 23, 2008:
I think you can actually hear the lecture, or some of it, if you go to
http://www.esc-rennes.fr/actualites/penser-l-action-une-impo...
and click on the bleu-blanc-rouge...
David BUICK (asker) Jan 23, 2008:
Unfortunately, I don't know. I suspect it is intended to be pure philosophical speculation, which might have more specific applications including all those you mention.
In the mean time, I'm reflecting on acting on Gregory Flanders' response and getting into all sorts of angst about whether that in itself is an act of deception... ;)
Attorney DC Bar Jan 23, 2008:
Is the lecture about thinking about affirmative acts, thinking when acting, intent, something else? Re: Najib's concern: pretense? sham?

Proposed translations

+1
1 hr
Selected

thinking before doing - an illusion?

thinking through/ planning before you do - a fallacy?

I think that's what it means!
Unesco is apparently using the phrase 'penser l'action' translated as 'thought for action' - but that doesn't mean much to me.
Peer comment(s):
agree CMJ_Trans (X) : I'm more with you - just listened to the start of the speech - you cannot isolate an action so how can it be thought out in advance ? and "fallacy" is good// I just let it run and forgot about it and suddenly, bingo! Didn't listen to it all !!!
15 mins
Thanks CMJ_Trans. I was going to listen but gave up as the download was taking too long.
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks to all contributors. In the end I used a combination of ideas but I think Alain got closest to what this guy was going on about - though like CMJ_Trans I found my attention distracted within minutes of starting to listen!"
+4
5 mins

Reflecting on action - an act of deception?

This is the first pithy thing that came to mind -- academics love plays on words in conference titles. ;)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2008-01-23 08:49:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

FWIW, the dichotomy between reason (reflection) and moral judgments (action) is one of the foundations of western metaphysics since at least Kant. See his first and second critiques (of reason and of practical reason, respectively).

I'm almost certain that the talk title you gave is in some way making reference to the Kantian distinction, at least obliquely. Hence the play on words in the English translation I gave. Deception is the opposite of knowledge and reflection. An imposture.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2008-01-23 10:34:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Having watched the first half of the talk, I think I would modify the translation a bit: "Reflecting on action: an illusionary act". This seems to go with what the speaker is trying to convey, and yet keeps the word play and the specifically philosophic terminology.

just a thought!
Peer comment(s):
agree Michael GREEN : Sounds good to me - I think I even understand the French phrase now - and I expect it will pull Eutychus out of his dilemma :)
17 mins
agree Najib Aloui : Bonjour. "imposture" is a special sort of deception. Can't a closer word be found?
22 mins
agree Jenny Duthie : Re Najob's comment - how about "trickery" instead of deception?
1 hr
agree EJP
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

thinking action - a masquerade?

http://books.google.com/books?id=5o0fKZsfMSgC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA...
In this lovely long link, you will find that "thinking action" is the title of an article, which I don't have the time to read, nor the intelligence to understand..... so without understanding all the ins and outs of what philosophers mean when they say this (I will not hazard a guess!!), perhaps this is a possibility. I have a feeling it's a lot 'deeper' (at least according to the philosophers) than just thinking before doing - something to do with conceptualisation no doubt......
Something went wrong...
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