THE PROBLEM OF THE JAPANESE PERCEPTION OF NATURE AND THE MEANINGS OF SHIZEN

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the Japanese appreciation of nature in environmental philosophy. However, numerous studies on the subject put forward several ambiguities and contradictions about the Japanese conception of nature. This article aims to investigate these ambiguities and contradictions by considering the Japanese word shizen as an “untranslatable”. The investigation of the meaning of an untranslatable term includes determining its polysemy in the source language and clarifying the difficulties when the term is translated into another language. To this aim the article examines the semantic differences between shizen and nature, the conceptual difficulties in defining a particularly Japanese conception of nature, and the semantic history of the term shizen. Such an examination reveals not only the significance of the polysemy of shizen in the discussions on the Japanese perception of nature but also how different meanings of the term nature intermingle in them.

Keywords

• Japanese Philosophy
• Environmental Philosophy
• Shizen
• Nature
• Untranslatable

JAPONLARIN DOĞA ALGISI PROBLEMİ VE SHIZEN’İN ANLAMLARI

Abstract

Japon kültüründe doğaya verilen değer çevre felsefesinde artan bir şekilde ilgi gören konular arasında yer almaktadır. Bununla birlikte, konuyu ele alan araştırmalar Japonların doğa algısıyla ilgili içi içe geçen çeşitli problemler ortaya koymaktadır. Bu makale bu problemleri shizen kelimesini bir “çevrilemeyen” olarak ele alarak incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çevrilemeyen bir terimin incelenmesi o terimin kaynak dildeki çok anlamlılığını, başka bir dile çevrilmesiyle ortaya çıkan zorlukları ve anlam değişimlerini açık hale getirmeyi içermektedir. Bu amaçla makalede shizen ve Avrupa dillerinde doğa anlamına gelen kelimeler arasındaki farklar, Japonya’ya özgü bir doğa kavramı belirlenmek istendiğinde ortaya çıkan zorluklar ve bir çeviri kelimesi olarak shizen’in tarihsel gelişimi ele alınmaktadır. Böyle bir inceleme bir yandan shizen’in günümüzde ve geçmişte sahip olduğu farklı anlamların Japonların doğa algısıyla ilgili tartışmalar içindeki yerini belirlemeyi sağlarken, bir yandan da bu tartışmalarda Avrupa dillerinde doğaya karşılık gelen kelimelerin dile getirdiği farklı anlamların ne şekillerde birbiri içine geçip karıştığını göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Japon Felsefesi
• Çevre Felsefesi
• Shizen
• Doğa
• Çevrilemeyen

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