Foreword: Professional Ethics in Business and Social Life

There are many perspectives from which the reality of work can be viewed. As a mere occupation, it may be understood as an activity in which we engage during the greater part of our waking hours, apart from the time we spend attending to our biological needs. As employment, it seems to refer to some formal relationship or contract in which we agree to produce some goods or perform certain services in exchange for pay and other economic incentives. It could also be thought of as a career in which we compete against ourselves or our peers in an attempt to reach ever more lofty goals that pro-vide us with great psychological satisfaction. But likewise, work may be conceived as a profession, as a personal response to a wider social calling, as an invitation to serve others. This has always been the dimension of work that has interested business ethics scholars and practitioners the most. This special issue of the Journal of Business Ethics comprises selected papers from the 21st Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) held in Antalya, Turkey, 17–19 October, 2008. The Antalya conference was a memorable event, held in a well-known Mediterranean tourist destination. The theme of the conference was “Professional Ethics in Business and