ABSTRACT
This chapter describes translation is philosophy, and in particular, hermeneutics. It considers the three key concepts in the hermeneutical writings. For the first two, translation is a hyperonym: It entails both understanding and interpretation and is predicated on them. When translation is reconceptualized in relation to hermeneutics, it acquires a strongly philosophical note and becomes a phenomenon, a field, a mode of being, a way of thinking, a manner of representation, close to its meaning in the phrase 'translation studies'. Most attempts to describe translation begin from relating it to contact and communication, either between individuals or between groups. Multiple and different translations of a single text correspond to the differences in knowledge, experience, and interpretation between translators and their contexts. The concept of the circle as a fundamental cognitive mechanism and translational principle has indeed a broad range of significant implications. Hermeneutics is a part of the art of thinking, and is therefore philosophical.
