Dec 21, 2018 10:24
5 yrs ago
English term
Japan
Marketing Transcreation
Native in: Japanese 
Works in: English to Japanese, Japanese to English
in a moral vacuum
English to Japanese
Art/Literary
History
rocket development
I am currently translating a book about rockets written by a British author. I came across one sentence which I think doesn't make sense.
I was wondering if someone could give me a little clue?
It is part of a paragraph about V2 rocket during WWII and its legacy: "The legacy of the V2 includes the Redstone rocket, Saturn V and the early Saturn rockets. However, a darker legacy remains from the war- the V2 killed almost 7,300 people in attacks, a full 20,000 labourers during its construction. It was a shameful heritage for a brilliant machine, but technology rarely advances in a moral vacuum."
In my understanding, "in a moral vacuum" means "where a moral doesn't exist". So the last sentence means:
V2(=a brilliant machine) has a shameful legacy but technology rarely advances where a moral doesn't exist. But V2 actually
did advance in a moral vacuum(=killing lots of people in attacks and construction).
If this "rarely" is "often", I'd understand. But this sentence is very confusing to me. Will anyone please help?
I was wondering if someone could give me a little clue?
It is part of a paragraph about V2 rocket during WWII and its legacy: "The legacy of the V2 includes the Redstone rocket, Saturn V and the early Saturn rockets. However, a darker legacy remains from the war- the V2 killed almost 7,300 people in attacks, a full 20,000 labourers during its construction. It was a shameful heritage for a brilliant machine, but technology rarely advances in a moral vacuum."
In my understanding, "in a moral vacuum" means "where a moral doesn't exist". So the last sentence means:
V2(=a brilliant machine) has a shameful legacy but technology rarely advances where a moral doesn't exist. But V2 actually
did advance in a moral vacuum(=killing lots of people in attacks and construction).
If this "rarely" is "often", I'd understand. But this sentence is very confusing to me. Will anyone please help?
Proposed translations
(Japanese)
| 3 | モラルの空白、道徳の喪失 |
komazawa
|
Proposed translations
1 hr
Selected
モラルの空白、道徳の喪失
I agree 100% in your interpretation; the only possibility to undestand this fragment is that a complement exists: for example: "...a darker legacy ...It was shameful heritage...but technology rarely advances in a moral vacuum, as you can see in post-war, most of successful space projects derived from V2 were not war-oriented." This is an invented example, so maybe you can check the rest of the book and discover an answer for this contradictory fragment you posted.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for your comment. Yes, it could be as you suggest... "
Reference comments
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