Decision Making Ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Decision Making Ethic - Essay Example Ethical dilemmas ften invlve uncertainty and, when rights and duties are in cnflict, it is difficult t find guidance. Ethics is receiving wide-ranging discussin in tday's ppular press as well as in accunting literature. Many accuntants find themselves perplexed by these arguments because they have nt been expsed t a practical methd f dealing with ethical dilemmas. N frmal training and few pprtunities in everyday wrking life have been prvided fr accuntants n a sustained basis. Greek ecnmic, philsphical, religius, legal, business, scial, and ther prblem areas and prpsed slutins are fund in their legal cdes and in their religius and philsphic writings (Frederick 62). The Scratic philsphers and military are the chief surces f the ecnmic, business, and scial thught f that day; their writings are intertwined with philsphy, ethics, and plitics. T btain a better feel fr precisely what impact these early writers and thinkers had n present day management and ethical, mral, and scial practices, tw f these Greek writers will be examined. First, the writings f Plat (427B.C. - 347B.C.) and then Aristtle (384B.C. -- 322B.C.) will be examined. The scpe f Plat's and Aristtle's writings was wide and represented the general thinking and beliefs f the Greek philsphers f that time; they delved int the ecnmic and scial system in its parts, hw it shuld wrk, and hw it shuld be used t achieve the desired gals and bjectives (Buchhlz and Rsenthal 62). Even thugh the early Greek and ther cultures have had a prfund influence n tday's business activity and scial respnsiveness, they run a far secnd t the impact that the Hebrew and Christian religins have had n ttal wrk, ethics, mrals, and scial respnsiveness. In many areas the Hebrew and Christian appraches t the ethical, mral, business, human, and scial prblems were cnsiderably different frm that f the Greeks and ther cultures (Dnaldsn 70). With the cllapse f the Rman Empire, the early and mid-perid saw the grwth f the feudal system, the grwth and increasing pwer f the Cathlic church, and the teachings f its fremst spkesman: Saint Thmas Aquinas. The feudal system existed in the latter days f the Rman Empire in a scattered frm and grew rapidly during the Dark Ages as a means f selfpreservatin and prtectin fr many f the prer peple. In rder t secure prtectin frm murder, rbbery, and vilence, many f the peple sld themselves int a level f subservience, including the lss f their individual freedm, t the peple wh were mre pwerful than they were and wh culd ffer them sme frm f prtectin (ppenheim 45). This "in between" grup was referred t by sme as the frerunners f ecnmic liberalism. In reviewing these peple and grups it shuld be nted that as mvement is made int the latter part f the perid and int the study f the views, philsphies, and writings f sme f the ecnmists, ther than fr the physicrats, there is a marked decrease in emphasis placed n the equality f mankind and the helping f ne's fellw man. The 1930s signaled a transitin frm a primarily laissez-faire ecnmy with industrial pwer and might in cntrl t a mre mixed ecnmy with unins and gvernment taking a