A Wisdom-Based Accounting Ethics Course

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to describe an accounting ethics course whose purpose, in part, is to short circuit the process that leads to foolish ethical decisions by professional accountants. In addressing how to make ethical decisions, the course deliberately includes processes intended to develop wisdom and to impede reflexive decisions that reflect the five fallacies of thinking. The approach described represents an active, engaging approach to increasing dialogical and dialectical reasoning in students’ pursuit of wisdom through individual selection of outside reading, engaging speakers, and the use of ethics accountability groups. The course is adaptable to large and small class settings where the professor desires extensive interaction among students, and it creates an environment designed to help students develop self-chosen principles to guide their professional lives. Students take responsibility for developing self-determined principles to guide their professional lives. Clearly identifying these principles provides students a basis for resisting ethical compromises in their careers. The course focuses students on developing wisdom and recognizing the weaknesses in a purely calculation-based moral reasoning.

Citation

Shaub, M.K. (2017), "A Wisdom-Based Accounting Ethics Course", Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations (Advances in Accounting Education, Vol. 20), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 181-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1085-462220170000020008