Chapters 2, 3, 10, and 11 were originally written in French. Their authors are discussing primary sources written not only in French and English but also in ancient Greek, Latin, Italian, and German. Because translation is already a matter of interpretation, I considered it unwise to adopt published English translations of the sources they are quoting (where they exist). My translation is therefore based on four principles: first, I have consulted the sources quoted in the original language; second, I have compared this with the way the authors have rendered these sources into French; third, I have borne in mind existing anglophone conventions around technical terms. For instance, with respect to ancient Greek and Roman Stoic sources, in almost all cases I have followed the conventions established by Anthony Long and David Sedley’s seminal sourcebook and commentary, The Hellenistic Philosophers (1986). The fourth step was of course to ask the authors themselves to critique and verify my translations.
The only generalization worth mentioning is that I have attempted to disambiguate French signification and sens throughout, since the distinction is sometimes philosophically significant. I have accordingly translated signification as “meaning” wherever appropriate; in some contexts, I have instead used “signification.” I have translated sens as “sense” rather than “meaning.”
Kurt Lampe