Accounting Ethics

Abstract

Accounting ethics from the point of view of the philosopher belongs to the general area of applied ethics. Let me begin by briefly sketching what this term means. The least abstract part of ethics is the making of concrete ethical judgments about particular cases?this act was wrong; this person is untrustworthy. The most abstract part of ethics consists of philosophical enquiry into the characteristics of any kind of ethical judgment. This most abstract enquiry may be purely formal?it may ask whether ethical judgments constitute a kind of knowledge claim, for instance, and whether, if they do, their truth can ever be known with certainty. In such an enquiry, the characteristics of ethical judgments as such are at issue, rather than the characteristics of any particular ethical judgment such as whether it is well-founded or foolish. A ethical enquiry though still general may also be substantive; it may consider whether the value of acts is always a matter of their consequences, for example. Applied ethics as a branch of philosophy is more concrete than philosophical ethics in any of the above construals, but more abstract than the making of particular ethical judgments. Applied ethics has typically to do with one particular domain within philosophical ethics? with medical ethics, business ethics, professional ethics, accounting ethics. To be a member of a profession-the accounting profession, for instance-is to face specific kinds of ethical problem, structured by the context and the responsibilities of the particular profession. The accountant does not qua accountant have to decide whether to dis continue life-support for a patient, though she may as a private person have to face such a problem in the case of a relative, or even in her own case. The doctor qua doctor does not have to consider whether