Translating Dietrich von Hildebrand

Translator Search Fall 2011

General Description

The Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project exists to produce, publish, and disseminate English translations of the philosophical works of the German phenomenologist, Dietrich von Hildebrand. The Legacy Project seeks translators who are philosophically trained and who are familiar with the philosophical language used within the school of Husserl. Candidates should be capable of making translations of the highest quality, uniting aspirations for conceptual fidelity with the ability to produce a flowing and natural English text. They should also be in a position to translate a German text of several hundred pages within 7-8 months.

Contracts for translating the works of von Hildebrand will be offered to those who are deemed by the Legacy Project to be the best translators. Compensation will be in accordance with current standards for academic translation.

Upcoming Translation Projects:

The following books are scheduled to be translated in 2012 and 2013:

1. Die Metaphysik der Gemeinschaft (The Metaphysics of Community, 380pp.) Von Hildebrand’s major work in the philosophy of community in which he develops a distinctively personalist vision of community. Of particular significance in this work is von Hildebrand’s original analysis of the essential connection between objective values and the formation of genuine community.
   
   
2. Moralia (523 pp.) A late work in ethics in which von Hildebrand develops, expands, and even revises elements of his earlier writings in ethics and the philosophy of love.
   
   
3. Die Idee der sittlichen Handlung (The Idea of Moral Action, 126 pp.). Von Hildebrand’s dissertation, written under Edmund Husserl, of which Husserl remarked: “I almost want to say that the [artistic] genius of Adolf von Hildebrand [the father of Dietrich von Hildebrand] has been inherited by his son, the author, as a philosophical genius.” This work saw the first developments of von Hildebrand’s value philosophy.
   
   
4. Sittlichkeit und ethische Werterkenntnis (Morality and the Knowledge of Ethical Values, 140 pp.) Von Hildebrand’s habilitation in which he makes important contributions to our understanding of the depth character of personal existence.

To Apply:

Persons interested in translating a work of von Hildebrand should submit the following materials topublications@hildebrandlegacy.org by midnight EST on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012.

1. A polished translation of the following excerpt from Sittlichkeit und ethische Werterkenntnis, available for download here (for the title page, table of contents, and forward of Sittlichkeit, click here).
   
2. A current CV/resume, which includes a list of your translations, noting publication where applicable.

All applicants will be contacted by January 18th, 2012. The Legacy Project reserves the right to not select an applicant and to announce future translator searches.