Unidad documental simple 165/2 - 'Memorandum by Prof: Nakashima' [not in the latter's hand].

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States that translations of European books on philosophy, including those by Spencer, Mill, Bentham and Bain, has been carried out for more than ten years by graduates of Tokyo University and other scholars. A two-volume translation of Sidgwick's "Methods of Ethics" has recently been published. The difficulty of such translation is referred to, in relation to the unsuitability of the Japanese language to Western modes of thought, or to the expression of those thoughts with the requisite subtlety and precision. Gives the background to the translation project; In the summer of 1896 Professor Nakashima, who holds the Chair of Philosophy in the Imperial University of Tokyo, proposed to ten of his best students, that they should undertake the translation of Sidgwick's Methods of Ethics. The first attempt was not a success, but the project was returned to the following year, and a revised translation was produced. Reports that the translation - which is based on the latest English edition - will be published 'by the best firm of educational publishers in Tokyo'.

A brief biography is given of Professor Nakashima; he graduated at the Western Reserve University, and received his Ph,D. at Yale University, and has written many books on philosophy in Japanese. His last work was a guide to the chief ethical works, published in 1897. At present he is revising for press 'his greatest work', a History of Philosophy. Most of the ten students who worked on the translation of Sidgwick's book will go on to become teachers 'in Normal and other [Japanese] public schools'.

Reports that in Japan, there is no strictly religious instruction in any government schools, and they tend to rely much on Western modern thought for instruction in ethics - 'derived from Confucius or the Greeks, from Hebrew writings or the latest work of Mr Spencer' - especially since 'the old Chinese ethics are discredited as a system.

Lists the names of the ten student translators: 'Chikayumi J. Oka M. Ota H. Tokiwa D. Tomiogi T. Tomonaga S. Toru D. Uyeno S. Yamanobe T. Yoshida S.'