EN
This study is based on the concept of translation being a dialogue between the author and translator, between the source text and the mode of translation, and between two intellectual environments in two cultures. The translation of texts in the humanities is an academic activity, a type of scholarly dialogue which translators enter at several levels – by the gesture of selecting the text to be translated, by the ways of transferring the text to the receiving environment, and by choosing the method of translation. In relation to the choice of texts for translation, this article discusses the effect of the historical context of the receiving environment, the translator’s relationship to relevant scientific disciplines, and the receptibility of the text in the receiving environment. These will be demonstrated through an analysis of both Slovak and Czech translations of the work of René Descartes (1954 and 2016) and Slovak translations of Jean-Paul Sartre (1964) and George Steiner (2022), while considering the different periods of their creation.