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Sinnlichkeit & Sinn

English translation: sensuousness and sense

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Sinnlichkeit & Sinn
English translation:sensuousness and sense
Entered by: Max Nuijens

08:16 Apr 14, 2008
German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Philosophy
German term or phrase: Sinnlichkeit & Sinn
"The principle of symbolic pregnance states that there is a primordial unity between ‘sensuousness’ (Sinnlichkeit) and ‘sense’ (Sinn) in the symbol that cannot be meaningfully separated into its constitutive parts."

How are Sinnlichhkeit and Sinn properly translated into English? Sensuousness seems wrong because of the sexual connotation. It is a thesis on the philosopy of Ernst Cassirer.
Max Nuijens
Netherlands
Local time: 13:09
sensuousness and sense
Explanation:
I would not use "Sensibility" here. it is something entirely different. it stands for Empfindlichkeit, Empfindsamkeit, Sensibilität, Zartgefühl.
Selected response from:

Ellen Kraus
Austria
Local time: 13:09
Grading comment
Well, I decided to keep it as it is. This is also the way the author wants it - so, he gets it. Thanks for all your research!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3sensuousness and sense
Ellen Kraus
3 +3sensory experience (quality) & (nonintuitive) meaning
Bernhard Sulzer
4 +2sensuality and sense
CHRISTA MAYER-LOOS
2 +1sensibility and sense
Edith Kelly


Discussion entries: 9





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
sensibility and sense


Explanation:

not sure if it fits your context but this is the standard translation i.e. the German here is a translation from the Engish


Sensibility and Sense (1990) (TV) - Soundtracks- [ Diese Seite übersetzen ]Sensibility and Sense on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more...
www.imdb.com/title/tt0100578/soundtrack -


Sinn und Sinnlichkeit (Sense and Sensiblity) / Austen, Jane im Ciao Preisvergleich unter Austen, Jane. Lesen Sie 4 Testberichte zu Sinn und Sinnlichkeit ...
www.ciao.de/Sinn_und_Sinnlichkeit_Sense_and_Sensiblity_Aust...


Edith Kelly
Switzerland
Local time: 13:09
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Stephen Sadie: although naturally better known the other way round as in the Jane Austen cited by Edith
2 mins
neutral  Craig Meulen: "standard" translation? Surely your context is a bit different? In any case, sensibility is definitely something different to sensuousness. Let the asker choose which one is best for him!
5 mins
  -> Well, sense and sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, translated into Sinn und Sinnlichkeit. That's why I posted with low CI. I personally do not like sensuousness for the reason given by asker but let the peers decide.
neutral  CMJ_Trans (X): This one crossed my mind at once (as in JA) for the same reasons as EdithK but I had and still have doubts
12 mins
neutral  Jim Tucker (X): not here; these are not Austen's themes, but a philosophical topos
10 hrs
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27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
sensuousness and sense


Explanation:
I would not use "Sensibility" here. it is something entirely different. it stands for Empfindlichkeit, Empfindsamkeit, Sensibilität, Zartgefühl.

Ellen Kraus
Austria
Local time: 13:09
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Well, I decided to keep it as it is. This is also the way the author wants it - so, he gets it. Thanks for all your research!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  mill2
2 mins
agree  Craig Meulen: thank you for confirming what I thought :-)
4 mins
neutral  Edith Kelly: Craig Meulen said that already in his note to asker so why post then, let Craig post this.
6 mins
agree  mary austria: I agree all the way!!
9 mins
neutral  Jim Tucker (X): "sensuality" is more precise here, as the meaning is not necessarily erotic, merely literally "sinnlich"
10 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
sensory experience (quality) & (nonintuitive) meaning


Explanation:
closer to the explanation below.
"sensuousness is also okay in my view, but "Sinn" is clearly "meaning" here.

or: is a sensory experience which at the same time contains a certain nonintuitive meaning

http://www.yale.edu/yup/pdf/081146_front_1.pdf

Cassirer, Phenomenology of Knowledge, p. ...: “It is with a view to expressing this mutual determination that we introduce the concept and term ‘symbolic pregnance.
’ By symbolic pregnance we mean the way in which a perception as a sensory experience contains at the same time a certain nonintuitive meaning which it immediately and concretely represents.”

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2008-04-14 10:32:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

One could argue that "reason" is meant with "sense" here but I would be careful. Mental articulation is closer to it (IMO).

Here is an attempt (only) to explain a little more based on the information below.

"Meaning" here seems to describe a representational, condensed, abstract "form/version" of the "sensory experience" or what is experienced through the senses. The sensory experience is expressed in/transformed into (and this actually happens at the same time as the sensory experience) a meaningful and new, concise form/in non-representational form (symbolic form); it is a mental articulation of the sensory experience. The sensory experience determines how this articulation occurs, and the specific form/way of articulation (articulating) expresses the experience; these two are interconnected. This process of sensory experience and mental articulation is what cannot be separated. It is described as pregnance.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Cassirer

„Unter ,symbolischer Prägnanz' soll also die Art verstanden werden in der ein Wahrnehmungserlebnis, als ,sinnliches' Erlebnis, zugleich einen bestimmten nicht-anschaulichen ,Sinn' in sich faßt und ihn zur unmittelbaren konkreten Darstellung bringt.“

Die symbolische Prägnanz lässt sich prozessual beschreiben als eine immanente Gliederung im Akt der Wahrnehmung und eine anschließende Repräsentation. So bilden sich im Sehen und für das Sehen die Gestalten aus. Die immanente Gliederung des sinnlichen Gehalts ist Voraussetzung dafür, dass die Welt nicht als amorphe Masse begegnet: durch Verdichtung und Herauslösung bilden sich Formen, Gestalten, Kontraste, welche durch Fixierung zu einer Identität (gegenüber anderen Wahrnehmungsinhalten) gelangen. Damit diese aber zu einer Dauerhaftigkeit kommen und sich „aus dem Strom des Bewusstseins bestimmte gleichbleibende Grundgestalten teils begrifflicher, teils rein anschaulicher Natur“ herausheben, braucht es eine anschließende Repräsentation. Damit tritt dann „an die Stelle des fließenden Inhalts [...] eine in sich geschlossene und in sich beharrende Form.“[4] Dabei wird nicht ein beliebiger Sinn zum Wahrnehmungsinhalt hinzuaddiert, sondern das Wahrgenommene wird in ein Sinnganzes eingebettet weil es eine Form gewinnt, die über sich hinaus weist:

Vielmehr ist es die Wahrnehmung selbst, die kraft ihrer eigenen immanenten Gliederung eine Art von geistiger ,Artikulation' gewinnt [...] Diese ideelle Verwobenheit, diese Bezogenheit des einzelnen, hier und jetzt gegebenen Wahrnehmungsphänomens, soll der Ausdruck ,Prägnanz' bezeichnen.



Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 07:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Craig Meulen: THANK YOU Bernhard!! Now we're getting somewhere ...
7 mins
  -> thanks, Craig!
agree  franglish
4 hrs
  -> thank you!
agree  gangels (X): wholeheartedly agree. Als:'constituent parts', not constitutive
5 hrs
  -> thank you!
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
sensuality and sense


Explanation:
sensuality: gratification of the senses, self-indulgence, eroticism

CHRISTA MAYER-LOOS
Local time: 07:09
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jim Tucker (X): right answer, though for the wrong reasons; "sensuality" does not necessarily connote eroticism. // yes, I was responding to your definition, which of course is not what the asker is looking for; your answer is, though.
5 hrs
  -> Thanks Jim! Eroticism is only one of the connotations, also regarding the German sense of the word.
agree  babli: agree
17 hrs
  -> Thank you Babli!
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