Feb 8, 2015 18:32
9 yrs ago
English term
in some formulations
English
Social Sciences
Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
Hello. I'm a EN>FR translator and hope it's ok for me to post here, as my problem at this stage is not so much to find a translation, but rather to understand.
I was hoping native English speakers might be able to help me grasp the meaning of "in some formulations" in the following sentence (which comes from an article about a book on the relationships between social sciences and imperialism/colonialism):
In France, the Durkheimian school found in the empire a diverse landscape on which to develop comparative analyses, **in some formulations** turning civilization from a hierarchical into a pluralistic notion, but without necessarily questioning the militaristic and administrative structures that created the empire in the first place.
Indeed, Durkheim was among the first ones to talk about civilizations in the plural, however this "in some formulations" remains quite mysterious.
Thank you very much.
I was hoping native English speakers might be able to help me grasp the meaning of "in some formulations" in the following sentence (which comes from an article about a book on the relationships between social sciences and imperialism/colonialism):
In France, the Durkheimian school found in the empire a diverse landscape on which to develop comparative analyses, **in some formulations** turning civilization from a hierarchical into a pluralistic notion, but without necessarily questioning the militaristic and administrative structures that created the empire in the first place.
Indeed, Durkheim was among the first ones to talk about civilizations in the plural, however this "in some formulations" remains quite mysterious.
Thank you very much.
Responses
+3
54 mins
Selected
in some interpretations
Any school of thought is open to interpretations which give greater or lesser emphasis to different aspects of the theory, or even different ways of expressing them. Each interpretation can be called a "formulation" of the school of thought.
Note from asker:
Thank you Martin. Very helpful! |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
7 mins
in some ways
One can really understand but the author chose those words...
Note from asker:
Thank you José. |
+2
3 hrs
in some versions (of Durkheimian thought)
Formulations here really means works or writings that expound or express Durkheimian thought, formulating it (that is, expressing or expounding it) in different ways. Different formulations of a body of philosophical thought are different ways of expressing essentially the same set of ideas, giving more or less emphasis to some of them, perhaps omitting some or adding others. Although they embody different interpretations of that body of thought, they are not, properly speaking, interpretations themselves, but rather sets of arguments that draw on Durkheimian ideas. So I think "versions" might be the nearest synonym.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
: See my comment above.
56 mins
|
Thanks, Tina :)
|
|
agree |
B D Finch
: Your explanation is good, but the best way of expressing it remains: "in some formulations".
15 hrs
|
Thanks! I quite agree. I spent several minutes trying to come up with an adequate synonym but I don't think there is one.
|
1 day 21 hrs
in some formulations / expressions
I think "formulation" is actually the appropriate term - but "expression" seems to me to be closer than the various suggestions.
Durkheim himself had various formulations of his work
https://books.google.ie/books?id=m7dLb93jSXQC&pg=PA42
https://books.google.ie/books?id=CTPh1DI71R0C&pg=PA119
Durkheim himself had various formulations of his work
https://books.google.ie/books?id=m7dLb93jSXQC&pg=PA42
https://books.google.ie/books?id=CTPh1DI71R0C&pg=PA119
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