Introduction

No one should doubt the need for close study of ethics in public life, but the particular quirks and preoccupations of this book require some explanation. This book is neither a general survey of the field, nor an in-depth examination of a single, defined problem. It is a set of case studies, relating and reflecting on the stories of specific practitioners, in identified Asian contexts, struggling to act purposefully and conscientiously within their spheres of work, to meet their professional duties as they understand them. Through careful examination of these selected cases, we can learn a great deal about the kinds of moral competence practitioners require in order to act effectively and well in public life. Or, at the very least, we have occasions for drawing lessons from moral failure. Learning comes from paying close attention to practical decision making as it is lived, to achieve a depth of understanding otherwise typically missed or ignored by students of ethics.