The Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project is always on the lookout for skilled, experienced translators with an interest in the thought of Dietrich von Hildebrand and the wider intellectual, spiritual, and cultural milieu he represents.

The Legacy Project wishes to do justice to the contributions of von Hildebrand by making not just adequate but world-class translations of his many untranslated German writings. Our translations will all be published by established publishers and, in some cases, simultaneously published online to enable us to reach audiences around the world.

We extend a special welcome to linguists who may not be familiar with the thought of von Hildebrand but whose intellectual roots are such that they would have a natural kinship with him. Translators indebted to German writers such as Edith Stein, Max Scheler, Edmund Husserl, Romano Guardini, Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Josef Pieper, Viktor Frankl, etc. will resonate with much in von Hildebrand and therefore be well-positioned to make sensitive and nuanced translations of his writings.

We seek the following basic traits in a translator:

1. An approach to translation which is not slavishly devoted to literalism but which is guided by a passion for conveying in flowing, natural, idiomatic English the precise meaning as well as thestyle and emotion conveyed in the original German.
2. A capacity to produce translations swiftly and at a regular quota.
3. A willingness to read in various foundational texts by von Hildebrand to gain a degree of proficiency in the fundamentals of his thought. Like many great philosophers, von Hildebrand’s work is marked by an internal consistency in which basic concepts recur (such as his philosophy of “value” and “value-response,” his notion of “superabundance,” and his thought on affectivity and the role of the heart). Von Hildebrand is not a difficult or obscure thinker, yet a knowledge of basic von Hildebrandian concepts is key for making successful translations.
4. A readiness to work collaboratively with the Legacy Project which will act as general editor for all the translations.

The Legacy Project compensates on the basis of various key factors, above all skill, experience, and the ability to translate within a set timeframe. That said, the Legacy Project wants to work with translators who would find the texts of von Hildebrand to be intrinsically interesting and deserving of their best efforts.

The following books are scheduled to be translated:

1. Die Metaphysik der Gemeinschaft (The Metaphysics of Community, ca. 400pp.) Von Hildebrand’s major work in the philosophy of community in which he develops a distinctively personalist vision of community. Of particular significance in this work is von Hildebrand’s original analysis of the essential connection between objective values and the formation of genuine community.
2. Moralia (ca. 400pp.) A late work in ethics in which von Hildebrand develops, expands, and even revises elements of his earlier writings in ethics and the philosophy of love.
3. Die Idee der sittlichen Handlung (The Notion of Moral Action, ca. 150pp.). Von Hildebrand’s dissertation, written under Edmund Husserl, of which Husserl remarked: “I almost want to say that the [artistic] genius of Adolf von Hildebrand [the father of Dietrich von Hildebrand] has been inherited by his son, the author, as a philosophical genius.” This work saw the first developments of von Hildebrand’s value philosophy.
4. Sittlichkeit und ethische Werterkenntnis (Morality and the Knowledge of Ethical Values, ca. 150pp.) Von Hildebrand’s habilitation in which he makes important contributions to our understanding of the depth character of personal existence.
5. Essays and Smaller Works
   1. On Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner.
   2. Unpublished manuscripts in metaphysics and epistemology, including an original study of what von Hildebrand calls “superabundant causality.”

Interested translators should send the following materials to John Henry Crosby, info@hildebrandlegacy.org:

1. A current CV/resume, which includes a list of your translations, noting publication where applicable.
2. A short sample translation from German into English, preferably in the area of philosophy and theology. Please include the original German with your email.
3. Your best translation of the following sample texts of von Hildebrand. Please translate 3a and your choice of 3b or 3c:
   1. The first three pages (minus footnotes) of this excerpt from von Hildebrand’s book, Das Wesen der Liebe (The Nature of Love).
   2. A short excerpt from von Hildebrand’s memoirs.
   3. A short excerpt from von Hildebrand’s essay on the composer Mozart.