Translating for the Undergraduate Philosophy Classroom

This essay considers how cross-culturally and historically oriented philosophers can produce excellent translations for use in the undergraduate philosophy classroom. It raises three questions for reflecting on translation methodology, focusing on Sanskrit-language texts as a case study: (1) What do we want students to be able to do with the texts in translation? (2) Given the answer to (1), what features of Sanskrit texts are relevant to how we translate? (3) Given the answers to (1) and (2), what features of the current moment and target audience, if any, are relevant for how we translate? The article concludes by applying these answers to the translation of three key terms (ākṛti, jāti, and sāmānya) in the work of Kumārila Bhāṭṭa, a seminal seventh-century Mīmāṃsā thinker.