A source on English usage for difficult translations

Posted by Peter Gillespie on October 06, 2001

I am stuck on whether one can use the word 'discernment' to speak of a quality as in the following phrase :

"Such is the cry of indignation whose discernment as measured by our hesitancy as adults summoned to make a positive determination on questions of fairness, is sometimes staggering." (my translation)

This is a quote from a French philosophical anthropologist, Ricoeur. He is sublimating the insight of the crier to the cry itself, thus making the cry 'insightful'. To paraphrase, can a 'cry' be insightful?

Thanks.

• Discernment R. Berg 10/06/01