ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to move beyond codes in order to think critically about some of the concrete ethical choices and dilemmas that translators and interpreters often encounter and for which they are rarely prepared. Ethics and morality are generally understood to concern our ability to make decisions on the basis of what we believe to be morally right or wrong in a specific context. The attempt to separate morality from ethics and to restrict it to the individual might suggest that what is moral is a matter of opinion, like an aesthetic judgement of beauty or elegance. Most professions have codes of ethics that regulate the behaviour of their members and demonstrate to those who depend on their services that they have mechanisms for ensuring accountability. Act-utilitarianists argue that an ethical decision is one that results in the most favourable consequences for the largest number of people in a given context.
