- You mention that the passage begins with a discussion of health as
"security for the present" - that's interesting in the light of the "Le
Petit Robert" entry for "volant" (which you have probably already looked
at). But, one of the meanings given is:
fig. Volant de securite: ce qui sert a regulariser ou a entretenir un
processus
fig. Security wheel/fly-wheel: that which serves to regularise or maintain a
process.
So, "health" is something of that nature?
Unfortunately, I haven't got the faintest idea what kind of wheel that is or
what machine it might be present in. Perhaps "volant regulateur" could be
simply translated as "regulatory mechanism"?
Regards,
Timothy
On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 10:28 PM, Teemu K <teemuta@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> and especially all the French-reading friends of Canguilhem's work.
> Apologies to those who find this too off-topic on this list.
>
> I am currently finishing a translation of certain key passages of
> Canguilhem's Normal & Pathological from French to Finnish. One term turned
> out to be a bit problematic: volant régulateur.
>
> "La santé est un volant régulateur des possibilités de réaction." (p 122,
> 2nd edition of "Essai", 1950)
>
> The English translation by Fawcett:
>
> ""Health is a regulatory fly-wheel of the possibilities of reaction." (p
> 116, 1978 edition by Reidel)
>
> A little bit of background: this passage begins with the idea that health
> is
> security for the present and assurance for the future; it continues with
> how
> life can, when necessary, surpass the expectations, ending elegantly with
> the sentence: "Etre en bonne santé c'est pouvoir tomber malade et s'en
> relever, c'est un luxe biologique."
>
> So my question is about this volant regulateur: how should it be understood
> & translated to English: steering wheel? fly-wheel (=volant d'inertie) as
> in
> Fawcett's translation? safety margin? regulatory mechanism?
>
> Thanks.
>
> best,
> Teemu Kemppainen
> University of Helsinki
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
"security for the present" - that's interesting in the light of the "Le
Petit Robert" entry for "volant" (which you have probably already looked
at). But, one of the meanings given is:
fig. Volant de securite: ce qui sert a regulariser ou a entretenir un
processus
fig. Security wheel/fly-wheel: that which serves to regularise or maintain a
process.
So, "health" is something of that nature?
Unfortunately, I haven't got the faintest idea what kind of wheel that is or
what machine it might be present in. Perhaps "volant regulateur" could be
simply translated as "regulatory mechanism"?
Regards,
Timothy
On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 10:28 PM, Teemu K <teemuta@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> and especially all the French-reading friends of Canguilhem's work.
> Apologies to those who find this too off-topic on this list.
>
> I am currently finishing a translation of certain key passages of
> Canguilhem's Normal & Pathological from French to Finnish. One term turned
> out to be a bit problematic: volant régulateur.
>
> "La santé est un volant régulateur des possibilités de réaction." (p 122,
> 2nd edition of "Essai", 1950)
>
> The English translation by Fawcett:
>
> ""Health is a regulatory fly-wheel of the possibilities of reaction." (p
> 116, 1978 edition by Reidel)
>
> A little bit of background: this passage begins with the idea that health
> is
> security for the present and assurance for the future; it continues with
> how
> life can, when necessary, surpass the expectations, ending elegantly with
> the sentence: "Etre en bonne santé c'est pouvoir tomber malade et s'en
> relever, c'est un luxe biologique."
>
> So my question is about this volant regulateur: how should it be understood
> & translated to English: steering wheel? fly-wheel (=volant d'inertie) as
> in
> Fawcett's translation? safety margin? regulatory mechanism?
>
> Thanks.
>
> best,
> Teemu Kemppainen
> University of Helsinki
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>