Social Ethics in East Asia
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0092-8615/97 Copyright 0 1997 Drug Information Association Inc.
SOCIAL ETHICS IN EAST ASIA CARLBECKER,PHD Human Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Cultural and ethical differences between Western and East Asian standards must be considered in order to make the International Conference for Harmonization (ICH) work. This paper covers six broad ethical rules of East Asian sociery, implications for the ICH process, and concerns that still need to be addressed in the ICH guideline. Key Words: Ethics; East Asia; International Conference for Harmonization
ETHICAL RULES OF EAST ASIAN SOCIETIES
INTRODUCTION IT MUST BE MADE clear from the outset that the author strongly supports the International Conference for Harmonization (ICH) project. If any comments sound negative, it is because he is keenly aware of the kinds of difficulties encountered in trying to relate Western European or American ideals with those of East Asia. It is hoped that pointing out some of these cultural and ethical difficulties will lead to their resolution, and avoid larger problems that will lurk in the future if these issues are not recognized now. At the same time, it is hoped that a blanket imperialist imposition of Western standards and values on Asian cultures whose standards and values have enabled them to operate with great harmony and continuity for thousands of years will be avoided. This report has three parts. Part 1 sketches six broad ethical rules of East Asian Society which affect deliberations. Part 2 discusses their implications for the ICH EWG E6 GCP Guideline. Part 3 picks up some concerns that are not yet directly addressed in the GCP Guideline (1). Presented at the DIA Workshop “Clinical Trials and
GCP in East Asia,” July 7, 1996, Tokyo, Japan. Reprint address: Dr. Carl Becker, Human Sciences, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Nihonmatsu-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-01, Japan.
The ethics of East Asia are not written in a single book such as the Bible, but are taught and obeyed by their societies with at least as much rigor as any commandments in Islam. There is no time to footnote the thousands of examples of ethics in the history and literature of East Asia (2); contemporary examples as they apply to the ICH project will be provided. For brevity and clarity, some generalization is inescapable. Young people and young companies may be exceptions, but the larger corporations, government, and medical establishment, and major drug consumers (elders) are likely to subscribe to the following ethical rules.
Interdependence over Independence The idea that people could be independent is nonsense in crowded East Asia. The air one person breathes is air another just breathed; the food one person consumes, is food another cannot consume; no human being can live without depending on a complex social network. Given a choice, people favor their families over strangers, countrymen over foreigners, colleagues over rivals, people’s own university graduates and members of their own professional organizations over other schools and organizations. Peo
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