[derboo]

Not in the proper sense, but the colloquial one, as in: "My translation philosophy is to stay as close as possible to the source text." (just a hypothetical example)

[Garoth Moulinoski]

倫理学 (りんりがく)? Jisho's say on it

[DarknessSavior]

倫理学 (りんりがく)? Jisho's say on it

I'm not sure, but 倫理 might work. The 学 implies "study of".

~DS

[Pennywise]

I'd say tao, but that's Chinese. The Japanese equivalent of that would fit the bill.

[granz]

The context of "philosophy" is a bit idiomatic in English. To paraphrase in other terms, I guess we're looking for an equivalent way to say, "My approach to such-and-such..." or "My methodology of doing such-and-such..."

I'm leaning toward 方法

[geishaboy]

The context of "philosophy" is a bit idiomatic in English. To paraphrase in other terms, I guess we're looking for an equivalent way to say, "My approach to such-and-such..." or "My methodology of doing such-and-such..."

I'm leaning toward 方法

方法 is more the nuts and bolts of something, the specific way that you do something. Using 方法 in relation to how one translates wouldn't be "closely as possible to the source" but "open up MS word, highlight unknown words, produce initial translation, proofread, ect.

I think the word you are looking for is 哲学　(てつがく) which means "philosophy". Garoth mentioned 倫理学　(りんりがく) which is more along the lines of "ethics" and while is a form of philosophy, would actually be a part of 哲学 a long with other philosophical subjects such as 論理　(ろんり) "logic" and 理念　(りねん) "ideology" (although the latter can also be translated as just "philosophy" depending on the context).

As DS mentioned, the 学 denotes the study of something, but it's not always as strict as you might think. I know that　企業哲学　(きぎょうてがく) can be translated as "business philosophy"　and　経営哲学　(けいえいてつがく)　as "management philosophy". So that would be a good place to start. Though if you are talking about your own personal philosophy on something, you would be best to state that explicitly and not leave what you mean to context as one can often get away with in Japanese.

[DarknessSavior]

I honestly thought that 哲学 might be it, but I wanted to wait until someone who knew more about it said something.

The reason I brought up 学 because of what Moulinoski said was that I figured there might be a difference between 倫理学 and 倫理 (with one being the school subject "ethics" and the other one being someone's personal ethics).

Nice to know that it is just 哲学, though.

~DS

[geishaboy]

Yeah, I was taught in university that 学 is used for fields of study and school subjects, but in practice it's usage isn't quite as narrow as that.

[derboo]

方法 is more the nuts and bolts of something, the specific way that you do something. Using 方法 in relation to how one translates wouldn't be "closely as possible to the source" but "open up MS word, highlight unknown words, produce initial translation, proofread, ect.

I think the word you are looking for is 哲学　(てつがく) which means "philosophy". Garoth mentioned 倫理学　(りんりがく) which is more along the lines of "ethics" and while is a form of philosophy, would actually be a part of 哲学 a long with other philosophical subjects such as 論理　(ろんり) "logic" and 理念　(りねん) "ideology" (although the latter can also be translated as just "philosophy" depending on the context).

As DS mentioned, the 学 denotes the study of something, but it's not always as strict as you might think. I know that　企業哲学　(きぎょうてがく) can be translated as "business philosophy"　and　経営哲学　(けいえいてつがく)　as "management philosophy". So that would be a good place to start. Though if you are talking about your own personal philosophy on something, you would be best to state that explicitly and not leave what you mean to context as one can often get away with in Japanese.

Alright, thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

[Paul Jensen]

The context of "philosophy" is a bit idiomatic in English. To paraphrase in other terms, I guess we're looking for an equivalent way to say, "My approach to such-and-such..." or "My methodology of doing such-and-such..."

This. We're not talking about the field of Philosophy, which would be 哲学(てつがく), but rather an idiomatic expression.

I think the best phrase to use in Japanese would be 原則(げんそく)として～, which means "As a rule..." or "As a matter of principle". For example, 僕(ぼく)は原則として平日(へいじつ)に酒(さけ)を飲(の)まない ("As a rule, I don't drink alcohol on weekdays").

HTH

[LostTemplar]

Depending on the usage, モットー might also fit the bill.

[geishaboy]

This. We're not talking about the field of Philosophy, which would be 哲学(てつがく), but rather an idiomatic expression.

I think the best phrase to use in Japanese would be 原則(げんそく)として～, which means "As a rule..." or "As a matter of principle". For example, 僕(ぼく)は原則として平日(へいじつ)に酒(さけ)を飲(の)まない ("As a rule, I don't drink alcohol on weekdays").

HTH

哲学 can be used in an idiomatic sense to the effect of "It's my philosophy that ~" or "~ is my philosophy". Possibly not the best way to translate the OP's original sentence but is a correct usage of the word.

[Paul Jensen]

哲学 can be used in an idiomatic sense to the effect of "It's my philosophy that ~" or "~ is my philosophy". Possibly not the best way to translate the OP's original sentence but is a correct usage of the word.

I just checked it in the dictionary, and you're right. I can't remember hearing it used that way before, but it looks like it can.

It's nice to still be learning new things about Japanese after all this time.