Accounting and philosophy: the construction of social reality framework
Accounting and philosophy: the construction of social reality framework
Accounting scandals and their severe consequences shed light on the ambiguity of accounting. This paper attempts to explore philosophical roots of accounting in an attempt to remove, or at least mitigate, this ambiguity. The study employs Searle’s social construction framework (1995) as an approach to achieve this aim. It is argued that the main problem of accounting is its failure to faithfully represent economic reality. The evaluation of recent developments in accounting suggests that although these attempts are a step towards reaching a better representation of economic reality, they are insufficient. A great deal of accounting ambiguity still exists, and thus future accounting scandals are likely. It is therefore suggested that a deeper understanding of the philosophical aspects of accounting should be taken into consideration by the setters of accounting standards.
accounting ambiguity, Searle’s construction of social reality, representational faithfulness, accounting standards
29-36
Elkhashen, Emad
6c855ff7-e550-4729-9840-5cf0d0d26843
Ntim, Collins
1f344edc-8005-4e96-8972-d56c4dade46b
24 April 2018
Elkhashen, Emad
6c855ff7-e550-4729-9840-5cf0d0d26843
Ntim, Collins
1f344edc-8005-4e96-8972-d56c4dade46b
Elkhashen, Emad and Ntim, Collins
(2018)
Accounting and philosophy: the construction of social reality framework.
Journal of Accounting and Taxation, 10 (3), .
(doi:10.5897/JAT2017.0277).
Abstract
Accounting scandals and their severe consequences shed light on the ambiguity of accounting. This paper attempts to explore philosophical roots of accounting in an attempt to remove, or at least mitigate, this ambiguity. The study employs Searle’s social construction framework (1995) as an approach to achieve this aim. It is argued that the main problem of accounting is its failure to faithfully represent economic reality. The evaluation of recent developments in accounting suggests that although these attempts are a step towards reaching a better representation of economic reality, they are insufficient. A great deal of accounting ambiguity still exists, and thus future accounting scandals are likely. It is therefore suggested that a deeper understanding of the philosophical aspects of accounting should be taken into consideration by the setters of accounting standards.
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 February 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 31 March 2018
Published date: 24 April 2018
Keywords:
accounting ambiguity, Searle’s construction of social reality, representational faithfulness, accounting standards
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 418206
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418206
ISSN: 2141-6664
PURE UUID: b925f9a6-ef0a-4543-8dde-77751b360848
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Date deposited: 23 Feb 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:14
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Author:
Emad Elkhashen
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