Ein Beitrag zur Analyse des Begriffs „Kultur“

This essay, like “On the Essence of Philosophy”, was originally written in German, then translated into Italian (by Ludovico Geymonat) and Dutch. The translations were published as „Contributo all’analisi del concetto di cultura”, Rivista di Filosofia 28 (1937): 289–297, and “Bijdrage tot de Analyse van het Begrif ‚Cultuur‘“, Synthese 2 (1937) 2: 47–54. The two papers do not match completely; in some places, the Italian text even contradicts the Dutch text (for example, on the question of whether animal behaviour should be included in the definition of culture); and there are some omissions in the Italian version. As there is some evidence that the Dutch version is closer to the German original, it was chosen as the basis for this translation. However, where the Dutch text seemed unclear, the Italian was consulted for the translation; some passages of the text have nevertheless remained unclear. Where available, the terminology has been taken from the German abstract (reprinted after the text as in the original). Since the text was initially written in German and is also particularly interesting against the background of the cultural conditions in Vienna before the Second World War, a German translation is given here.