Philosophical Ethics

The three main philosophical approaches to ethics within the accounting industry are Consequentalism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics, and they are now required subjects when obtaining an accounting degree (Business and Professional Ethics, 2009). These three specific approaches lay the foundation of making an ethical decision for accountants, but in order to arrive at the correct, most ethical, decision a combination of the three must be used, as well as a combination of personal ethics, legal considerations, and company policies. Consequentalism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics are required learning for all accountants, and being able to apply them in everyday decisions is necessary for making ethical decisions.

Consequentalism is the most common philosophical viewpoint when it comes to the business owner's perspective. The basic definition, as found in the textbook Business and Professional Ethics published in 2009, is explained as "the benefits of the long term outweigh the benefits of the few", following along the thought process of business owners and managers of earning the maximum amount of profit possibly when running a company. When it comes to the most ethical decision, though, this philosophical approach may not always be the right choice.

Deontology is the most common philosophical viewpoint when it comes to the overall community perspective. The basic definition, as found in the textbook Business and Professional Ethics published in 2009, is explained as "do to others as you want others to do to you", or basically, that the benefits of the few have to be considered as well as the benefits of the many. Once again when it comes to making ethical decisions, this philosophical approach may not always be the right choice.

Virtue Ethics is the final philosophical approach, and it is the most common viewpoint when it comes to personal morals and ethics. The basic definition, as found in the textbook Business and Professional Ethics published in 2009, is explained as "the good of the community is more important than the good of any individual" and it is based on personal morals of each individual person. Not to sound redundant once again, but when it comes to making ethical decisions, this philosophical approach is not always the right choice.

The first example that we will discuss is from the given scenario from Appendix B found in the ACC260 class, required by Axia College of Phoenix, Arizona. The ethical question asked is whether a senior center, the only senior center in the given town, should be torn down in order build a large resort which would bring income into the community from tourists. The problem that exists in this ethical decision is that the resort can only be build in one specific spot in order to maximize profits, and that location happens to be the current location of the senior home. In the long term, and for the majority of the people, the entire town would benefit from the resort because of the increased traffic, which would increase the income for all the local businesses. In the long-term, and for the minority, the demolishing of the senior resort would leave 100 seniors without a place to stay, and would cause 30 employees to be without a job.

The ethical decision, according to the Consequentalism approach, would be to demolish the senior center and build the resort because it is the best for the majority and for the long term. But the mayor, when making this decision, must ask if leaving people unemployed and homeless is truly the must ethical decision which can be made in this scenario. The Virtue Ethics approach would also suggest that the senior center be demolished to allow for the resort to be built, but some sort of compromise must be made in order to have the seniors have a place to stay and for the employees to still have a steady source of income. The final philosophical approach that has to be considered is the Deontology viewpoint, which states that the resort should not be built, and that the senior center should be left so that the seniors are not left homeless, and the employees are not left without a job.

In this scenario all three philosophical approaches need to be considered in order to make the most ethical decision. The long term benefits of the entire community are important for growth and development, but the welfare of the job market and the elderly people within the community are also important. Therefore, when the mayor makes this decision the combination of the three approaches are considered and the obvious solution to this problem is to let the developer build the resort in the required location, but to also make him build a senior resort in a different location to replace the one being demolished. In this way the interests of everyone involved is considered, and all three philosophical approaches are used.

The second example that we will discuss is from the given scenario from Appendix B found in the ACC260 class, required by Axia College of Phoenix, Arizona. The ethical question asked is whether Catalina, a sales person for a regional pharmaceutical company, should lie about her actual sales count in order to ensure that the entire sales staff makes their quota and gets to go on a company paid vacation. The problem that exists here for Catalina is that if she does not lie in order to increase her actual sales amounts, her co-workers will be very upset with her, but on the other hand, lying to ensure that they all get the vacation is fraud and basically stealing from the company.

When the three philosophical viewpoints are considered in making an ethical decision the first thought is that morals, and laws, state that even though there is a loophole in the way the company is ran, that the only decision that can be made ethically is to report the correct sales numbers and accept the consequences that will be received from all the co-workers. The Consequentialism viewpoint and the Virtue Ethics viewpoint both suggest that Catalina should lie and then make it right later by changing the sales reports, and the Deontology approach states that a lie should not be told in order to benefit yourself, or others.

When making this ethical decision there is only one decision that can be made, and that is to report the truthful sales reports. Even though everyone would benefit from lying in this instance, and the numbers could be made right later on to adjust the false numbers, providing false sales reports is fraud, against the law, and very unethical. The easiest way to solve this problem is to use the remaining days of the year to make some sales and hit the sales requirement, therefore making it possible for all the workers in the company to go on the vacation, and still be ethical.

The second example that we will discuss is from the given scenario from Appendix B found in the ACC260 class, required by Axia College of Phoenix, Arizona. The ethical question asked in this scenario is whether Malcolm should turn his roommate in to the police for selling and consuming drugs in their home. When Malcolm comes home from class he finds his roommate sitting with another man at the kitchen table with bags all around them. After the man leaves, the roommate basically threatens him and tells him not to nark them out or they would both come after Malcolm.

In this case the three philosophical approaches all state the same thing because drugs are bad for the individual, bad for the community, and bad for Malcolm who is trying to succeed in school. The only ethical choice in this example is to turn the roommates into the police, and deal with any consequences that may arise from it.

An accountant has to consider all three philosophical approaches and incorporate them all into making an ethical decision, as well as following all legal and company policies that may be involved. Personal morals and ethics also have to be added into the decision process, making the outcome of any ethical decision to be as well laid out as possible, meaning that the decision made will be morally correct, legal, and ethical. The Consequentalism approach, the Deontology approach, and the Virtue Ethics approach are the three philosophical viewpoints that have to be learned by all accountants, and they have to be understood and used before making any type of hard ethic question.

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