Financial Reporting and Ethics - The Institute of Chartered ...

ETHICAL FRAMEWORK, CONCEPTS AND VALUEwould be the sort of rules that a theory of conduct would discuss(though different theories will differ on the merit of each of theseparticular rules): “Do unto others as you would have them dounto you”; “The right action is the action that produces thegreatest happiness for the greatest number”; “Stealing is wrong.”Normative ethics involves arriving at moral standards thatregulate right and wrong conduct. It is the search for an ideallitmus test of proper behaviour. It is the sub-division of ethicswhich investigates the principles upon which certain things andactions are said to be good or bad, right or wrong. It is that aspectof ethical thinking that seeks for principles or reasons upon whichmoral positions can be justified. It deals with norms, standardsor principles of human behaviour.(b)(c)(d)Teleologicaltheories determine the ethics of an act by lookingat the probable outcome or consequences of the decision (theends). It judges the rightness or wrongness of an action basedon its consequences. Actions are therefore not good in themselves;their moral values are totally based on the effects that followupon them. Actions have no intrinsic value but merely serve asmeans to attain that which has value. In considering theconsequences of an action, the good effect should be weighedagainst the bad effects on all the people affected by it. If thegood effects outweigh the bad effects, then it tends to be a goodaction, but if the bad outweighs the good, then it tends to be abad action, hence not morally right.Ethical EgoismEthical egoism expresses ‘the view that human conduct shouldbe based exclusively on self-interest.’ Ethical egoists believe thatmorality requires nothing more of us other than we maximiseour own good. An action therefore is right if it maximises one’sown personal good. Similarly other definitions go thus: “eachand every man ought to look out for himself alone… everyoneought to concern himself with his own welfare alone.” Accordingto John Hospers, one’s sole duty is to promote his own interests,exclusively, 1 and for Bernard Williams “everyone oughtexclusively to pursue his own interest.”UtilitarianismUtilitarianism was formulated by the British philosopher JeremyBentham toward the end of the 18th century and later expoundedby the British philosopher James Mill and his son, John StuartMill. Utilitarianism, otherwise known as the ‘greatest happiness123