[lit-ideas] Re: or your files: Investigations text [English only]
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 11:40:06 +0000 (GMT)
>P.S. The full (German) text of PHILOSOPHISCHE UNTERSUCHUNGEN is available at
http://www.geocities.jp/mickindex/wittgenstein/witt_pu_gm.html>
Having long been of the view, based on the English translation, that there is
quite a lot of wittiness in the text, a casual perusal confirms that the German
original is completely devoid of a sense of humour.
D
On Thursday, 13 February 2014, 10:33, "cblists@xxxxxxxx" <cblists@xxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Thanks, Robert, for this link.
Unfortunately, a brief spot-check of this online version of the English
translation of PHILOSOPHISCHE UNTERSUCHUNGEN reveals typical (and egregious)
transcription errors so familiar with anyone who works with OCR software:
At the end of the Preface (footnote one): 'catty' for 'carry' and 'Getman' for
'German'
In §19 'Slabl' and 'slab\' for 'Slab!' and 'slab!'
In §213 'Intuidon' for 'Intuition'
Many of such errors (e.g., 'Getman' and 'Intuidon') could have been easily
spotted by running the text through a 'spell-checker'; obviously not even this
basic corrective step was taken. But as the 'misreadings' are fairly obvious to
the careful reader (especially one who has worked on and/or with OCR
transcriptions), no great harm is done.
HOWEVER (sorry for shouting), such transcription errors are especially
problematic where mathematical notation is present.
(At the moment I don't have at hand my copy of the Blackwell edition, from
which this text is scanned, so I can't check that way; but a further couple of
spot-checks comparing the text offered here with the German original confirm my
suspicion that all is not well.)
In §143 the series '0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5' (in the German original) is transcribed
as 'o, i, 2, 3, 4, 5'.
Here the errors (as in 'Getman' for 'German') are fairly obvious, and easily
overcome. But elsewhere, where algebraic notation is used (i.e., with letters
standing in for numbers), confusion is, as they say in German,
'vorprogrammiert' [pre-programmed'].
Look at the nonsense that is made of §151.
Firstly we find the transcription 'i, 5, u, 19, 29' Now here one may have
little problem speculating that the 'i' once more stands for '1'. But 'u'?
(The German original has '11'.)
And by the time we get to the formula in §151, we read the completely
meaningless 'a[subscript]n — n[superscript]2 -f n — i'.
I defy any reader (especially given that 'u') to UNPROBLEMATICALLY recognize
that the first '—' is an OCR (mis)transcription of '=', that the '-f' is a
misreading of '+', that the second '—' is a minus sign, and that the 'i' is
(once more, but here not so obviously) a misreading of '1'.
(It is doubly ironic that §151 contains sentences such as 'B says he know how
to go on', 'What has happened here? Various things have happened ...' and even
'"Now I understand!"')
Chris Bruce,
procrastinating (I haven't forgotten that I have
promised something about 'the nazi Heidegger'), in
Kiel, Germany
P.S. The full (German) text of PHILOSOPHISCHE UNTERSUCHUNGEN is available at
http://www.geocities.jp/mickindex/wittgenstein/witt_pu_gm.html
On 12 Feb 2014, at 20:48, Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> There's a new online site with the complete text of Philosophical
> Investigations. It's a copy of what's usually called the third edition, which
> means it's the second edition with an index. Very clear; obviously 'copied'
> straight from the original.
>
> http://gormendizer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Ludwig.Wittgenstein.-.Philosophical.Investigations.pdf
>
> I remember several years ago posting a link to a text of the Investigations,
> that was obviously a 'typed' copy of it, and much less readable and harder to
> navigate than this new one. The 'new' document is also searchable.
>
> However, I wouldn't want to start anything...
>
> Robert Paul
On 12 Feb 2014, at 20:52, Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I wrote
>
> There's a new online site with the complete text of Philosophical
> Investigations. It's a copy of what's usually called the third edition, which
> means it's the second edition with an index. Very clear; obviously 'copied'
> straight from the original.
>
> However, it has only the English text.
>
> RP
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