学問とは?

English translation: What is learning?

04:26 Apr 18, 2019
Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Science - Education / Pedagogy / 学問
Japanese term or phrase: 学問とは?
How would you translate "学問とは何か?" I feel like using the term scholarship but I don't think we use the term "scholarship" that commonly. The document uses the term 学問 to refer to fields of studies such as psychology and law.
Cory Ohira
Local time: 20:11
English translation:What is learning?
Explanation:
It can refer to learning or to types of learning (i.e., fields of study, or areas of knowledge, etc.) depending on the context. Sometimes it can be both at different instances in the same text.

Example from a Yomiuri Shimbun article
最も教育の効果が上がるのは1年生の時だ。受験勉強でこりかたまった頭脳に、本当の学問とは何かを教え、目の覚めるような刺激を与えるのが大学の教師の責務である。
From a teacher's point of view, teaching is most effective when students are in their first year of university. It is the responsibility of university teachers to stimulate first-year students' brains, which are still full of knowledge gained through entrance exam preparations, educate them about what genuine learning is, and create a clear state of intellectual awakening among them.

Example from The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai and its translation by Donald Keene.
学問とは、虚栄の別名である。人間が人間でなくなろうとする努力である。
Learning is another name for vanity. It is the effort of human beings not to be human beings.

Example from a modern version of Nakae Chomin's A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government and its English translation by Nobuko Tsukui
現在、世界中の国々が争って武力を重視し、すべて学問の発見や成果は軍事利用され、軍備はますます精密になっています。たとえば物理学、化学、数学などの学問は、銃砲の精度を上げ、要塞を堅固にし、農業、工業、商業などは、軍事費を供給し、食糧を提供する。

Today all the nations of the world are competing to promote military strength. All the wonderful discoveries and results of scientific learning are utilized for war, and military technology becomes ever more advanced. In other words, physics, chemistry, and mathematics make guns superior and fortresses more secure; agriculture, industry, and commerce also supply the expenses for weapons or provisions for the military.

(I think the reason 学問 seems to be specifically translated as "scientific learning" here is because the original 1887 text actually says 洋学, i.e., "Western learning," which probably included a lot of science. Either that, or the translation is using an older definition of the word "scientific.")
Selected response from:

Michael Lind
United States
Local time: 06:11
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2What is learning?
Michael Lind


  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
What is learning?


Explanation:
It can refer to learning or to types of learning (i.e., fields of study, or areas of knowledge, etc.) depending on the context. Sometimes it can be both at different instances in the same text.

Example from a Yomiuri Shimbun article
最も教育の効果が上がるのは1年生の時だ。受験勉強でこりかたまった頭脳に、本当の学問とは何かを教え、目の覚めるような刺激を与えるのが大学の教師の責務である。
From a teacher's point of view, teaching is most effective when students are in their first year of university. It is the responsibility of university teachers to stimulate first-year students' brains, which are still full of knowledge gained through entrance exam preparations, educate them about what genuine learning is, and create a clear state of intellectual awakening among them.

Example from The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai and its translation by Donald Keene.
学問とは、虚栄の別名である。人間が人間でなくなろうとする努力である。
Learning is another name for vanity. It is the effort of human beings not to be human beings.

Example from a modern version of Nakae Chomin's A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government and its English translation by Nobuko Tsukui
現在、世界中の国々が争って武力を重視し、すべて学問の発見や成果は軍事利用され、軍備はますます精密になっています。たとえば物理学、化学、数学などの学問は、銃砲の精度を上げ、要塞を堅固にし、農業、工業、商業などは、軍事費を供給し、食糧を提供する。

Today all the nations of the world are competing to promote military strength. All the wonderful discoveries and results of scientific learning are utilized for war, and military technology becomes ever more advanced. In other words, physics, chemistry, and mathematics make guns superior and fortresses more secure; agriculture, industry, and commerce also supply the expenses for weapons or provisions for the military.

(I think the reason 学問 seems to be specifically translated as "scientific learning" here is because the original 1887 text actually says 洋学, i.e., "Western learning," which probably included a lot of science. Either that, or the translation is using an older definition of the word "scientific.")

Michael Lind
United States
Local time: 06:11
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Katsunori Higuchi: Nice research
22 hrs

agree  Mami Yamaguchi
1 day 36 mins
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