1. Preface; 2. Section I. Some general issues; 3. Paper 1. On the idea of a theory; 4. Paper 2. Shared ground in Translation Studies; 5. Paper 3. What constitutes "progress" in Translation Studies?; 6. Paper 4. Towards consilience?; 7. Section II. Descriptive and prescriptive; 8. Paper 5. The empirical status of prescriptivism; 9. Paper 6. Skopos theory: A retrospective assessment*; 10. Paper 7. Catford revisited*; 11. Paper 8. The descriptive paradox, or how theory can affect practice*; 12. Section III. Causality and explanation; 13. Paper 9. Causes, translations, effects; 14. Paper 10. A causal model for Translation Studies; 15. Paper 11. Semiotic modalities in translation causality; 16. Paper 12. On explanation; 17. Section IV. Norms; 18. Paper 13. From 'is' to 'ought': Laws, norms and strategies in Translation Studies; 19. Paper 14. A note on norms and evidence; 20. Section V. Similarities and differences; 21. Paper 15. On similarity; 22. Paper 16. Problems with strategies; 23. Paper 17. The unbearable lightness of English words; 24. Section VI. Hypotheses; 25. Paper 18. The status of interpretive hypotheses; 26. Paper 19. Reflections on the literal translation hypothesis; 27. Section VII. "Universals"; 28. Paper 20. Beyond the particular; 29. Paper 21. What is a unique item?; 30. Paper 22. Kundera's sentence; 31. Paper 23. Universalism in Translation Studies; 32. Section VIII. The sociological turn; 33. Paper 24. Questions in the sociology of translation; 34. Paper 25. The name and nature of Translator Studies; 35. Paper 26. Models of what processes?; 36. Section IX. Translation ethics; 37. Paper 27. Proposal for a Hieronymic Oath; 38. Paper 28. An ethical decision; 39. References; 40. Name index; 41. Subject index

Reflections on Translation Theory ultimately demonstrates the significance of Chesterman’s work to translation theory. He offers an important, questioning voice in the discipline that does not allow anything to be taken for granted. His writing is refreshingly clear, but he is not afraid of complexity when it is necessary. While his style might be relatively straightforward and easy to read, the ideas he grapples with can be quite large and imposing. There is much to learn from reading Chesterman’s work, even if we disagree with it: even then, he points out ways in which we can develop our thinking about translation.