Page 22 - The Ethics of ASEAN

The Ethics of ASEAN

ethicists (specialists in ethics or moral philosophy) consider the terms as more or less
2
interchangeable. The simple explanation for this is because “ethics” is derived from the
ancient Greek ethos while “morals” is derived from the Latin moralis. English often has
these duplications. For example, the Greek-derived word pedagogy and the Latin-derived
word education refer to the same thing: in fact, the Roman philosopher and statesman
Cicero had to invent the Latin word educare since there was no equivalent in the language
for the Greek concept of paideia.
Fundamentally ethics is about making decisions or acting in a way that can be judged
as right or good. The core assumption is that we humans make conscious and responsible
decisions in how we act, how we live our lives and how we organise society.
What is the opposite? Unethical is the word we attribute to those who make decisions
without principles or without consideration for others. In the context of ASEAN, political
leaders or governments that do whatever it takes to gain and hold power for themselves
without providing an even playing field for other political representatives would be called
unethical. In business, companies or leaders that knowingly profit from destructive
environmental practices or treat their employees without justice or dignity would be called
unethical. And religious or ethnic groups that allow only their doctrines or culture to be
practiced in public while repressing the beliefs or way of life of others would be called
unethical.
What unethical means is debatable of course. For example, emerging ethical values
such as freedom of sexual orientation can be considered unethical by traditionalist or
conservative standards. We shall see many examples of debatable ethical issues in our
dialogues in Part Two of this book.
So now the question is: how does a region become ethical? For ASEAN it began when
the aspirational ideals of the founders were agreed as foundational pillars for regional
institutions. Looking at early ASEAN declarations you see aspirations and values that have
evolved into the institutions and commitments of the present day. This evolution of ideals
into founding principles is common in national ethics, such as the American Declaration of
Independence principle that “all men are created equal.” Actually, foundational aspirations
and values are present more or less explicitly in most national founding declarations and
constitutions.
When it comes to the regional ethical enterprise made up of sovereign nations, ethical
foundations are much more complex. ASEAN ethics exists today as a rare example of a
multinational organisation, of which the best-known examples are the United Nations and
the European Union. All of these organisations have started with foundational principles
but their success comes from a capability to evolve ethically.

Aspiration meets Reality
By 1967, only six years after the founding of ASA, a metamorphosis took place. The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations added two more nations, mixing the cultures,
2 What’s the Difference Between Morality and Ethics? by Cydney Grannan, online Encyclopaedia Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-morality-and-ethics#:~:text=Both%20
morality%20and%20ethics%20loosely,certain%20community%20or%20social%20setting. Downloaded 29
January 2021.

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