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Author: | Macintosh, N. B. |
Title: | Accounting and the truth of earnings reports: philosophical considerations |
Journal: | European Accounting Review
2009 : MAY, VOL. 18:1 p. 141-175 |
Index terms: | accounting financial statements capital markets capitalism philosophy |
Language: | eng |
Abstract: | The study investigates the philosophical nature of accounting reports of earnings. Considering from Harold Frankfurt's truth, lies and "bullshit" treatise (2005,2006), the paper sees earnings reports as "short of lies", so that the accountants can only be faulted for their indifference to the truth and for giving the impression that they are trying to present the truth. A poststructuralist philosophical perspective problematizes this conclusion basing on that accounting language is not a transparent medium but rather the material used to manufacture accounting "truths". It is concluded that both Frankfurt's perspective and the poststructuralist perspective can provide valuable insights into this ironic state of affairs. |
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