The first part of the article touches upon metatheoretical constraints to translator's qualities research represented by the 'methodological infancy' of Translation Studies (TS), the role that professional self-esteem of translators plays in TS research, and the lack of importance attributed to a pure science of translation. The main part is devoted to the concept of 'translator's competence' under which the qualities of translators have been typically addressed. The article discusses some problems with the notion of competence as underlying knowledge. Then, a point of view adapted from Keen (1988) is introduced: if understood as aptitude, competence is the result of performance in the translator's history, not its cause. This could be appropriate to overcome a speculative tradition of translator's qualities research.