4 ms·

21st Century books are for 21st Century audiences. They can explain, for example, a cultural / sociopolitical / religious context that the original author took

21st Century books are for 21st Century audiences. They can explain, for example, a cultural / sociopolitical / religious context that the original author took for granted.

xamuel 7y ago
Best of both worlds is a modern translation with footnotes/introduction. Even without these, it's amazing how well you can glean the necessary context in most cases.
- dorchadas 7y ago
  I don't know if I agree with that, especially certain classes of texts that assume you understand the background knowledge and what it was written for. The Bible is a good example of this. So much of the context in which the books were written is lost, and not really gleaned by a lay-person reading it. Reading academic commentaries and introductions to the various books has very much widened my view and made me understand the author's point more, rather than interpreting it through my 21st-century lens. I think there's definitely more of that needed, across all ancient philosophical texts.
  - xamuel 7y ago
    The Bible works on many levels. Advanced knowledge of the context will unlock certain levels, but isn't required for many of those levels (including, I think, the deepest levels). Jesus himself explicitly addresses this, saying: "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight." (Matthew 11:25-26) And there are places where Jesus seems to explicitly speak to the reader (Matthew 24:15, "Let the reader understand", spoken orally to a presumably baffled group of disciples with no stenographers present), and even to readers of a far more distant future time than today (Matthew 16:28, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.") See also Deuteronomy 31:21, "And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants". God revealed to Moses that even in the far-flung future when people have strayed far from God, the required context will still be printed on every man's heart.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    You say you disagree but then to explain at length how you agree?
rjf72 7y ago
It's quite unusual how little this is really necessary. For instance a read I found incredibly fascinating was Konungs skuggsjá - The King's Mirror [1]. It was a book written for the education of the heir of King Haakon IV of Norway, in the 1200s. It takes the form of hypothetical questions from the son and prepared answers from the father. It covers a wide array of training and topics. And you'd think you'd need an encyclopedia of references aside to understand the day and age of which it spoke. It features extensive religious and political references, yet the weird thing is a book written for royalty around 800 years ago feels oddly familiar. And in reality I found a good deal of the advice and knowledge it shared not only interesting but actually quite useful and wise. It also rather gives proof to the meaning of the tale of Damocles, without in any way intending to do such! [1 - actual book] - http://www.mediumaevum.com/75years/mirror/index.html http://www.mediumaevum.com/75years/mirror/index.html [1 - wiki overview] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konungs_skuggsj%C3%A1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konungs_skuggsj%C3%A1
- d1zzy 7y ago
  It is shocking how familiar/similar the thoughts/feelings and fears of ancient people are to that of my own mind today. It was such an eye opener when going through Eliade's History of Religious Ideas.

21st Century books are for 21st Century audiences. They can explain, for example, a cultural / sociopolitical / religious context that the original author took for granted.

xamuel 7y ago

Best of both worlds is a modern translation with footnotes/introduction. Even without these, it's amazing how well you can glean the necessary context in most cases.

dorchadas 7y ago
I don't know if I agree with that, especially certain classes of texts that assume you understand the background knowledge and what it was written for. The Bible is a good example of this. So much of the context in which the books were written is lost, and not really gleaned by a lay-person reading it. Reading academic commentaries and introductions to the various books has very much widened my view and made me understand the author's point more, rather than interpreting it through my 21st-century lens. I think there's definitely more of that needed, across all ancient philosophical texts.
- xamuel 7y ago
  The Bible works on many levels. Advanced knowledge of the context will unlock certain levels, but isn't required for many of those levels (including, I think, the deepest levels). Jesus himself explicitly addresses this, saying: "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight." (Matthew 11:25-26) And there are places where Jesus seems to explicitly speak to the reader (Matthew 24:15, "Let the reader understand", spoken orally to a presumably baffled group of disciples with no stenographers present), and even to readers of a far more distant future time than today (Matthew 16:28, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.") See also Deuteronomy 31:21, "And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants". God revealed to Moses that even in the far-flung future when people have strayed far from God, the required context will still be printed on every man's heart.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- lonelappde 7y ago
  You say you disagree but then to explain at length how you agree?

rjf72 7y ago

It's quite unusual how little this is really necessary. For instance a read I found incredibly fascinating was Konungs skuggsjá - The King's Mirror [1]. It was a book written for the education of the heir of King Haakon IV of Norway, in the 1200s. It takes the form of hypothetical questions from the son and prepared answers from the father. It covers a wide array of training and topics. And you'd think you'd need an encyclopedia of references aside to understand the day and age of which it spoke. It features extensive religious and political references, yet the weird thing is a book written for royalty around 800 years ago feels oddly familiar. And in reality I found a good deal of the advice and knowledge it shared not only interesting but actually quite useful and wise. It also rather gives proof to the meaning of the tale of Damocles, without in any way intending to do such! [1 - actual book] - http://www.mediumaevum.com/75years/mirror/index.html http://www.mediumaevum.com/75years/mirror/index.html [1 - wiki overview] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konungs_skuggsj%C3%A1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konungs_skuggsj%C3%A1

d1zzy 7y ago
It is shocking how familiar/similar the thoughts/feelings and fears of ancient people are to that of my own mind today. It was such an eye opener when going through Eliade's History of Religious Ideas.