February 16, 2023

Unable to find any German edition on the Internet, I have begun once more to read in Gilbert Highet's translation of Paideia.  As I study Jaeger's Paideia, I become aware that I am looking into a mirror. I ask myself to what extent I see in the mirror a spiritual image of Ancient Greece, of the mind of Werner Jaeger, or of myself.  Perhaps it is an amalgam of all three.

Thinking is inconceivable to me without language; language is a function of community.  Intellectual development and activity are contingent on my engagement with others.  Society has a structure and function of its own and imposes its conditions on its members.  It is these conditions which Werner Jaeger has denominated as paideia.

I ask whether the translation of paideia as Bildung might be ideologically biased.  Bildung is a substantive of bilden, and bilden means to constitute an image.  Bildung as translation for paideia denotes a state of passivity of both him who educates and him who is educated.  Arguably a more ideologically neutral and philologically accurate translation of paideia into German is Zucht.  I ask whether the correct translation of paideia into English might not be education or culture but discipline.  More fundamentally I ask why, given the demonstrable vagaries of classically accepted translations, the process of translation should not be construed as the translator's exploitation of the opportunity to foist his own prejudices onto the intellectual landscape.

In the Septuagint, Isaiah 53:5 reads:
αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῗς ἰάθημεν

The Vulgate translates Isaiah 53:5:
5 ipse autem vulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras adtritus est propter scelera nostra disciplina pacis nostrae super eum et livore eius sanati sumus

The King James Version Isaiah 53:5:
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Luther's Bible 1545 renders Isaiah 53:5:
5 Aber er ist vmb vnser Missethat willen verwundet / vnd vmb vnser Sunde willen zuschlagen /Die Straffe ligt auff Jm / Auff das wir Friede hetten /Vnd durch seine Wunden sind wir geheilet.

A further relevant passage is Proverbs 13:24:

Septuagint:
24 ος φείδεται της βακτηρίας μισεί τον υιόν αυτού ο δε αγαπών επιμελώς παιδεύει

Vulgata:
24 qui parcit virgae suae odit filium suum qui autem diligit illum instanter erudit

King James Version:
24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Lutherbibel 1545, Sprüche 13:
24 WEr seiner ruten schonet / der hasset seinen Son / Wer jn aber lieb hat / der züchtiget jn bald.

Relevant also is Proverbs 23:10-14

Septuagint:
23:10 μὴ μεταθῇς ὅρια αἰώνια εἰς δὲ κτῆμα ὀρφανῶν μὴ εἰσέλθῃς
23:11 ὁ γὰρ λυτρούμενος αὐτοὺς κύριος κραταιός ἐστιν καὶ κρινεῗ τὴν κρίσιν αὐτῶν μετὰ σοῦ
23:12 δὸς εἰς παιδείαν τὴν καρδίαν σου τὰ δὲ ὦτά σου ἑτοίμασον λόγοις αἰσθήσεως
23:13 μὴ ἀπόσχῃ νήπιον παιδεύειν ὅτι ἐὰν πατάξῃς αὐτὸν ῥάβδῳ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ
23:14 σὺ μὲν γὰρ πατάξεις αὐτὸν ῥάβδῳ τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ θανάτου ῥύσῃ

Vulgata:
10 ne adtingas terminos parvulorum et agrum pupillorum ne introeas
11 propinquus enim eorum Fortis est et ipse iudicabit contra te causam illorum
12 ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum et aures tuae ad verba scientiae
13 noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam si enim percusseris eum virga non morietur
14 tu virga percuties eum et animam eius de inferno liberabis

King James Version:
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Lutherbibel (1545) Sprüche 23:
10 TReibe nicht zu rück die vorigen grentzen / Vnd gehe nicht auff der Waisen acker.
11 Denn jr Erlöser ist mechtig / Der wird jre sach wider dich ausfüren. 
12 Gib dein Hertz zur zucht / Vnd deine Ohren zu vernünfftiger rede.
13 Las nicht an den Knaben zu züchtigen / Denn /wo du jn mit den Ruten hewest / So darff man jn nicht tödten.
14 Du hewest jn mit der Ruten / Aber du errettest seine Seele von der Hellen.

From Grimms Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache:

2) zucht ist die mit absicht und energie geübte einwirkung auf das verhalten und die ausbildung des charakters, besonders der jugend. sie gibt dabei den negativen factor ab im unterschiede von der unterweisung und belehrung, die einen positiven beitrag leisten Kant 2 (1838), 537 Hartenst. durch den zwang unterscheidet sie sich von der erziehung: die cultur der zucht (disciplin) ... ist negativ und. besteht in der befreiung des willens von dem despotismus der begierden Kant 7 (1839) 313 Hartenst. oft ergänzen sich zucht und lehr Thym Thedel v. Wallmoden 6 ndr.

I note that Professor Jaeger's definition of paideia as Bildung or liberal education corresponds to the current interpretations in Internet encyclopedias. To form my own opinion requires that I retrace Professor Jaeger's research, a task of such magnitude that the mere mention points to a complexity with which I will be unable to cope. Nonetheless I will continue to try to read and understand Professor Jaeger's Paideia to the extent that I have time, energy and intelligence. EJM