/lit/ - Literature

I noticed a thread in the archive (https://boards.4channel.org/lit/thread/16169692)) from a few hours ago made by an anon asking about English translations of Otto Weininger's 1903 book GESCHLECHT UND CHARAKTER (SEX AND CHARACTER). I am making this thread in the hopes he or she will see it since the responses in the thread were misleading or incorrect.

There are three English translations of GESCHLECHT UND CHARAKTER that I know of.

The first "authorized" English translation, which is apparently a rush job done by an anonymous translator or translators was published in 1906. This was the only published translation available for just over a century. It was the one I first read and does a reasonable job of translating the main ideas but it omits about one third of Weininger's original text, has many errors (sometimes the translation says the complete opposite of what Weininger intended to say) and also omits Weininger's lengthy appendix, which contains Weininger's sources and his notes on them.

This version is available widely on the internet for download, including here on Kevin Solway's Otto Weininger on the Internet page: http://www.theabsolute.net/ottow

The second English translation that I know of was published in 2004 and is an interlinear translation by Robert Willis, with alternating lines of Weininger's original German text and Willis' English translation of those lines. This version seems to be the complete text (including the appendix) and contains only minor translation errors (I've only noticed spelling mistakes). Willis' translation aims to capture the style of Weininger's original German text and seems to do a good job of it, as far as my limited understanding of German can confirm. This version is available as a free .pdf download (http://www.theabsolute.net/ottow/geschlecht.pdf)) and also as a print-on-demand version that can be purchased from Amazon.

The third translation, this one by German professor Ladislaus Löb and published by an academic press, appeared in 2005, just missing the book's centenary by two years. It also contains the full text including the appendix and is quite an elegant translation into English, though missing some of the style of Weininger's original that Willis does his best to preserve. It seems likely to become the standard English translation for the forseeable future. I haven't seen a .pdf online and new copies are expensive, so a library (especially a university one) may be your best bet.

These are the three English translations I am aware of. I would recommend Ladislaus Löb's if you are reading it for the first time because it is clear and readable English, seeking to communicate Weininger's meaning above all else. If you like it and want more, Willis is great. The 1906 edition is flawed but is okay if it's your only option. In the future I imagine it will only be of historical interest, as a document of how Weininger was first presented to the English-speaking world.