ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book looks at broader societal issues particularly those relating to sustainability and the environment. It aims to develop an ethical matrix which allows analysis of the impacts of any production system from a number of different perspectives. The book addresses issues in business ethics and accesses to information and communication technologies and explores issues of human rights in global contexts. It discusses the commentaries which address news items arising during 2003 and provides interest and enlightenment to those seeking to engage in ethics not only in their own disciplines but more broadly. Ethics as a discipline has begun to escape the theoretical domains of philosophy and to pervade many fields of activity both academic and professional. Research ethics has become more prominent not just in medicine and the sciences but also in the social sciences and humanities.
