The philosopher Hannah Arendt described “the human condition” as “the sum total of human activities and capabilities” (Arendt, 1958, p.10) including work. It is part of the human condition to experience major events such as birth, growth and death, as well as to reflect on their significance. We all aspire to find meaning in what we do and transcend what is merely temporary and mortal. Especially when engaging in work, we hope to produce some “artifact” that is somewhat permanent, lasting longer than our own personal existence. In this assignment, you are asked to reflect on an important “artifact” to gain your own personal insights into the human condition.
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In the first chapter of our textbook, Mintz and Morris (2020) present the Code of Professional Conduct created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to guide CPAs when making professional decisions that involve moral judgment. The AICPA code is thus an important “artifact” of the accounting profession. The main question is: what does it reveal about the human condition?
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The AICPA code was created in response to a moral dilemma of accountants: to serve the public interest according to the aspirations of the accounting profession (professionalism) vs. to attend to their role of running a firm that can produce profits (commercialism). Serving the public interest has to take precedence over running the business, because the accountant’s work only has value if society can trust that the accountant will abide by certain professional principles. Aware of this dilemma, the AICPA established in its Code of Conduct six principles that CPAs need to apply when performing their professional services (Mintz and Morris, 2020, p. 35):
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1) Responsibilities
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2) The Public Interest
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3) Integrity
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4) Objectivity and Independence
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5) Due Care
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6) Scope and Nature of Services
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Helpful details about these principles can be found on the AICPA website: https://www.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/research/standards/codeofconduct/downloadabledocuments/2014december15contentasof2016august31codeofconduct.pdf
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REQUIRED:
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Reflecting on this “artifact,” the AICPA code of conduct, choose ONE of the principles 1-5 above and answer the following three questions (note: the answers to Principle #6 are provided below as an example)
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1. what does this principle presuppose or assume about how humans act or relate to each other?
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2. how does this principle guide the work of the professional accountant? Give an example.
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3. what have you learned from your own experience that helps you understand why this principle is important?
Your answers to each question should fall in the range of 75 – 125 words. If you use material from any other source than your own creation, you will need to cite the source using the American Psychological * EXAMPLE FOR HOW IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE ATTACHED IN THE FILES
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