Presentation
ReemAlharthi999
MainIdea.pptxChapter 8 in Baker (2011): In Other Words
Beyond Equivalence: Ethics and Morality
Introduction
Various associations that represent translators and interpreters have long developed codes of practice, codes of ethics.
There is a need to develop critical skills that can enable translators and interpreters to make ethical decisions for themselves.
This is important for at least three reasons:
No code can ever predict the full range of concrete ethical issues that may arise in the course of professional practice.
Codes, like laws, are elaborated by people like us, and are therefore never infallible, ethically or otherwise.
It is in the interest of society as a whole for individuals to be accountable for their decisions, in professional life as elsewhere.
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Ethics and Morality
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.
Virtue ethics: ethics is not just about knowing what to do on a given occasion.
Rather than What should I do?’, we must each be concerned with the question ‘What kind of person should I be?’ Or ‘What kind of translator should I be?’
The decision we take on any given occasion is generally judged as ethical or unethical to the extent that it affects others, for example in terms of their survival, freedom, well-being, comfort, happiness or success.
Ethics and Morality
A person who behaves in a way that affects only him- or herself negatively is imprudent, not unethical.
The distinction between the self and others is never straightforward, e.g., committing suicide.
Morality concerns everyday decisions; ethics has now come to be associated with the right conduct in professional life.
Morality refers to the right conduct for everyone.
Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
Deontological models define what is ethical by reference to what is right in and of itself, irrespective of consequences, and are rule-based.
Justify an action on the basis of principles such as duty, loyalty or respect for human dignity.
Teleological approaches, in contrast, define what is ethical by reference to what produces the best results.
Justify an action on the basis of the results.
Different approaches can sometimes lead to the same decision.
The issue of why we opt for one decision rather than another is just as important as which decision we opt for.
Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
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.
Relativism : what is moral varies from one society to another and at different points in history and that we must therefore refrain from judging others on the basis of our own, current values.
Cultural relativism has many followers, and its main argument has a certain appeal in the context of translation and interpreting.
Relativism also alerts us to the fact what is deemed controversial, and hence requires more sensitivity from a translator or interpreter to communicate, varies from one social environment to another.
Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
The extent to which one can challenge the values and expectations of readers and still maintain their involvement and treat them with dignity is an issue that occupies the minds of many translators and influences their choice of wording as well as what to include and what to omit.
Morality is not the same as good manners or socially approved habits, which do vary considerably from one cultural environment to another
If translators are to behave in an ethically responsible manner, their decisions must be informed by principles that take account of the impact of their actions on others, principles such as ‘do no harm’ or ‘do not acquiesce in injustice’.
Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
Universalists believe that such basic moral principles do exist and that they apply universally, but the way we interpret them can vary from one context to another.
There is no general agreement about the set of relevant principles and partly because the principles often clash in real life.
Consequentialist theories, bypass the issue of principles and their variation across cultures by assessing moral conduct purely on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis of the consequences of an action or behavior.
Egoists maintain that an action is moral or ethical if its consequences are favorable for its agent.
Altruists maintain that an action is moral if its consequences are favorable for everyone except the agent.
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Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
Utilitarianism considers an action moral to the extent that its consequences are favorable for everyone, including the agent.
Utilitarianism comes in two versions: act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism.
Act-utilitarianists: ethical decision is one that results in the most favorable consequences for the largest number of people.
Act-utilitarian logic would support a decision that results in the largest number
of participants, including the translator even if the rights of one participant are undermined.
Rule-utilitarianism: ‘the right action is that action which is performed in accordance with a rule, or set of rules, the following of which maximizes utility.’
Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
Kantian ethics is a better option than both utilitarianism and universalism.
Kantian ethics maintains that actions are right or wrong in and of themselves, irrespective of their consequences and of contextual considerations.
Our actions must ultimately be motivated by a sense of duty.
In the example mentioned in p. 281, interpreter’s behavior is ethical or not will depend on at least two considerations.
First, what we believe is likely to be the best outcome for all participants .
Second, whether we think the father’s behavior is guided by different norms and expectations operative in his own cultural setting.
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Ethics and Morality
How do we decide what is ethical?
Conference interpreters’ (and translators’) insistence on ‘professional neutrality and confidentiality as the pillars of their professional codes of practice’ is at least partly motivated by the fact that ‘this position protects them from awkward and even threatening criticism and deflects potential pressure from powerful clients.
Professionalism, Codes of Ethics and the Law
Professional codes can have a positive impact on the community to which they apply and cannot be dismissed as irrelevant unless they prove to be out of touch with the realities of practice and with the moral outlook of practitioners.
In elaborating their codes of ethics, institutions sometimes negotiate the rules sensitively with their members and take account of their experience and values.
‘Ethics and the law are distinct’, and while one hopes that ‘ethical norms will inform the content and enforcement of the law’, we know that many laws have been used in the past and continue to be used today.
Professionalism, Codes of Ethics and the Law
Professional codes of translation and interpreting are and must remain the reference point for ethical behavior in the field.
To resolve a range of ethical dilemmas for which the code offers no satisfying answers, some have argued that ‘the code applies to the interpreted encounter , and not to any interactions before or after the professional encounter’
Impartiality does not mean lack of feelings on the part of the interpreter; interpreters must not allow their personal opinions or feelings to interfere with their work.
They can always declare a conflict of interest and decline the job.
The Ethical Implications of Linguistic Choices
Accuracy is one of the principles included in most codes of ethics, and like impartiality and confidentiality, it can be difficult to adhere to for ethical reasons.
Accuracy focuses specifically on the relationship between the source and target text, or source and target utterance in the case of interpreting.
In the example p. 287, such language and imagery can have negative ethical implications for society as a whole and that it is therefore unethical to perpetuate this type of discourse through translation.
They still have to address the implications of eliminating or even reducing the gendered references, downplaying the sexualized tenor of the original or omitting some of the implicit praise of Britain’s.
The Ethical Implications of Linguistic Choices
In Kantian terms, we would have to acknowledge that the author has a right to express his own world view, and the reader has a right to access and judge that world view for him- or herself.
Unfortunately, many contexts of translation do not afford translators the opportunity to include footnotes; thus forcing them to make a decision that involves doing harm to one or more parties in the encounter: the author, the reader, their own values, a social or ethnic group or even society as a whole.
Concluding Remarks
Translation and interpreting as diverse, challenging, exciting and highly consequential activities, whether undertaken for great literary writers or destitute immigrants, whether awarded with glamorous literary prizes or treated as run-of-the-mill, everyday jobs.
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Baker, M. (2011). In other words. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN#: 9780415467537 (print), 9780203832929 (e-text).
References
American Translators Association Code of Ethics and Professional Practice
See “Other Resources” on Blackboard.
