Paper 27

Proposal for a Hieronymic Oath

Four current models of translation ethics are described, based on the ideas of representation, service, communication, and norms. There are problems with all these models: they are in several respects incompatible, and have different ranges of application. An alternative approach is therefore offered based on Alasdair MacIntyre’s ideas about virtues and the deontic force of excellence in a social practice. This leads to a fifth possible model, an ethics of professional commitment: cf. Maria Tymoczko’s suggestion that translation is a commissive act. At the centre of such a model there might be an official oath, comparable e.g. to the Hippocratic Oath for the medical profession. I end with a proposal for a Hieronymic Oath for translators.