ABSTRACT
The discipline of Interpreting Studies (IS), departing from the exclusive elitist realm of conference interpreting, has branched out into a set of sectorial sub-disciplines—medical interpreting, legal interpreting, interpreting in the education sector, business interpreting, interpreting for the media or for tourism, and diplomatic interpreting. The development of IS into increasingly specialised areas of research and practice has had significant implications for the perception of the interpreter’s role in the international literature on interpreting. Ethics has been investigated principally in the macro-disciplines of theology and philosophy. The four macro-areas of moral philosophy that could be said to represent its central tenets are: virtue and ‘the good’; duty and responsibility; consequence of actions and utility; and justice and equality. Underpinning the evolving focus on ethics in the modern era is the principle that all people are equal and have equal possibilities and rights.
