ABSTRACT
One tradition of defining professionalism which gives comfort to architects is as the place where the savage gods of commerce parley with their counterparts of civilisation and order. The vision is an empowering one, if possibly obsolescent. The curtains part to reveal the professional sitting on high, arbitrating between great interests. Beside him are books of laws and codes to give him standing and offer him ethical guidance. Since in every calling the fine print of the negotiation is endlessly disputed and revised, many commentators on professional ethics choose to focus on the content and interpretation of that guidance.
