English translation: perceptions/concepts of value
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German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Philosophy / ethics
German term or phrase:Wertgefühle
I have been asked to help somebody translate the term ‘Wertgefühle’ into English. The full sentence in the text (which I don't know any more about, unfortunately) reads: „In der Einmaligkeit, der Unvergleichlichkeit des Gegenstandes wurzeln alle unsere Wertgefühle.“
She has rendered it as „The singularity, the incomparability of an object constitute the roots of all our felt values.”
The editors don’t think that ‘felt values’ is adequate. It is of course an inversion, but the literal ‘value feelings’ also sounds somehow wrong. What is meant is sth like ‘the appreciation of objects based on intuition’.
Sorry not to have any more context, but perhaps someone can put us on the right track?
Thanks a lot for your ideas, especially if you can spare a few minutes during the weekend..
To be quite honest, the philosophical discussion this term has sparked is way over my head. So I will go with the six Agrees and choose David's suggestion perhaps as modified by some of his Agreers. Will pass the entire discussion on to my acquaintance and encourage her to join Pro.com. herself.
The amount of massed expertise available on this site from really brilliant translators is absolutely unique.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so splendidly here! 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Jim and others who took part in this discussion, you have contributed a lot to our understanding of this term, so thanks to all of you for taking the trouble to post your thoughts.
...after cheating a bit, I googled this passage and found this:
Dem gegenüber muss daran festgehalten werden, dass sich alles Interesse und Beurteilen, alle Wertbestimmung des Menschen auf das Einzelne und das Einmalige bezieht. Bedenken wir nur wie schnell sich unser Gefühl abstumpft, sobald sich sein Gegenstand vervielfältigt oder als ein Fall unter tausend gleichartigen erweist. «Sie ist die erste nicht» - heisst es an einer der grausamsten Stellen des Faust. In der Einmaligkeit, der Unvergleichlichkeit des Gegenstandes wurzeln alle unsere Wertgefühle.
In other words, a "Gegenstand" here is indeed the object of feeling.
The question remains whether Wertgefühl is subjective ( = "sense of dignity") or objective ("perceived value" of something). Here I tend toward the latter. To reinforce this, I'd say look again at the last part of that first sentence:
"...dass sich alles Interesse und Beurteilen, alle Wertbestimmung des Menschen auf das Einzelne und das Einmalige bezieht". In other words, the focus is on something *outside* (Gegenstand) the person doing the feeling (the subject).
Wertgefűhle (als philosoph. Begriff) sind Äußerungen eines (persönlichen, individuellen) Wertbewusstseins. (vgl. Nicolai Hartmann). Ich denke, dass „perceived“ hier etwas in die Irre fűhrt
this is definitely talking about "subject", or "issues". I would also propose "uniqueness" for Einmaligkeit, and wonder (this depends clearly on further context) if "Wertgefühle" is actually referring to "self worth" here...
Is the translator a German native speaker? If so, I'd suggest you gently point out that translations are best done by native speakers into their own language and perhaps offer to help with the translation rather than proof reading. It would make life easier for you, too. Untangling a translation full of false friends and Germanisms (Denglish) can be harder than re-doing it from scratch, after all, especially when it comes to syntax, tenses etc. (even more than punctuation).
...since this text is apparently discussing events within history or culture (probably the former), I'd consider "subject" or "issue" for Gegenstand here. (I'd also be a little concerned that the translator is simply mechanically aping the German punctuation, but we'd have to see more of this translation. In this case though, "and" (minus the 2nd "the") would probably work better than a comma.)
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Answers
21 hrs confidence:
turn it around
Explanation: We value something because we perceive it to be unique and incomparable
(or something along those lines)
mill Local time: 14:15 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Dear mill, personally I am all for this type of paraphrase, but I had to go with the majority, (see above). Thanks for your contribution!
David Williams Local time: 14:15 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
To be quite honest, the philosophical discussion this term has sparked is way over my head. So I will go with the six Agrees and choose David's suggestion perhaps as modified by some of his Agreers. Will pass the entire discussion on to my acquaintance and encourage her to join Pro.com. herself.
The amount of massed expertise available on this site from really brilliant translators is absolutely unique.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so splendidly here!
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +6
