悖理不同于悖論。悖理指不符合常理(incompatible to common sense)或有悖于事理(contrary to reason)，通常是一個認(rèn)識問題。翻譯中所謂“邏輯悖理”除了一些(如歧義、自相矛盾、前后矛盾、冗贅、不可通約、盲從誤見等）外，還包括一切不符合常理和事理（其中包括“既定事實”）的雙語轉(zhuǎn)換表達(dá)式。思維混亂（表現(xiàn)為語段組織混亂）問題我們將在下一切集中探討，在此就各式邏輯問題舉其要而討論之。下列說的是推理問題：
[例1]
The task of genetic explanations is to set out the sequence of major events through which some earlier system has been transformed into a later one. The explanatory premises of such explantions will therefore necessarily contain a large number of singular statements about past events in the system under inquiry. Two further points about the explanatory premises of genetic explanations should be noted. The first is the obvious one that not every past event in the career of the system will be mentioned. The second is that those events which are mentioned are selected on the basis of assumptions (frequently tacit ones) as to what sorts of events are causally relevant to the development of the system. Accordingly, in addition to the singular statements the premises will also include (whether explicitly or implicitly) general assumptions about the causal dependencies of various kinds of events.
[譯文]
“承續(xù)性解釋旨在詳盡列出早已形成的某種體系并已轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)殡S后的體系中的所有事件。其解釋前提是此類解釋必須包容大量單件說明，以便了解研究中之過往事件。（*）承繼性解釋的解釋前提還應(yīng)注意兩點：不必悉數(shù)列出過往之事件，第二被選擇列出之事件是以假定為基礎(chǔ)（并常以互相默認(rèn)者為主），因此只列出與該制度發(fā)展大體有關(guān)之事件。此外，列出單個說明時，前提亦包括（或明或暗）各種事件偶然依賴性之總體假定。”
此例譯文質(zhì)量很差，理解性謬誤暫且不議。整個語段翻譯以我們作的記號（*）為分界線：（*）以前的部分與（*）以后的部分前后矛盾。前面一部分強(qiáng)調(diào)要“詳盡列出”，后面一部分又說不必悉數(shù)列出，只要注意有關(guān)事件云云。錯誤出在譯者錯漏了一個關(guān)鍵詞“major”而將其譯成“所有”。SL作者強(qiáng)調(diào)的只
是“major events”(主要事件），說的是“貫穿在前此發(fā)生的某種系統(tǒng)（體系）中的主要事件序列”。（*）以后的部分說的正是事件要擇其要者而選出，以便弄明哪些事件在系統(tǒng)（體系）發(fā)展過程中只具有隨機(jī)的相關(guān)性，哪些又是主要的。在邏輯學(xué)中“(major) premises”是“大前提”， “(general) assumption”是“小前提”，“statement”在邏輯學(xué)中稱為“陳述”，“singular statement”稱為“單一陳述”。翻譯學(xué)術(shù)著作，隨意措詞就會造成邏輯悖理。
在一般性翻譯中，譯者不作邏輯審視造成前后矛盾的情況也很多。如：
[例2]
But when it came to teaching moral values, the modern parents seemed unwilling to pass on their revolutionary opinions to their children. Maybe they were not so sure any more of having been right. Or perhaps they wanted to prepare the youngsters for life in a society that had not really accepted the new ideas, and that was showing signs of rejecting them to come back to the traditional values.
譯句中（*）記號以前與（*）以后自相矛盾：
“但是當(dāng)涉及到道德準(zhǔn)則的教育時，現(xiàn)代父母們似乎不愿把他們的革命主張傳授給他們孩子，（*）也許他們不再認(rèn)定那些看法是對的?；蛘呤巧鐣蠜]有真正接受他們的新觀念，并且有跡象表明，不讓他們回到傳統(tǒng)準(zhǔn)則上去，他們也許想為孩子們做好到這樣一個社會去生活的準(zhǔn)備。”
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