Pragmatic and Idealist Public Accountants: Interpretation of Professional Ethics through Ricoeur's Hermeneutics

Abstract

For the public accounting profession to remain viable, ethics is a crucial problem. This study aims to analyze professional ethics from a public accountant's viewpoint. In order to accomplish this, an approach based on Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics is employed. According to Ricoeur, interpretation continues to be explained through conduct after understanding. The information was obtained through in-depth interviews with ten public accountants in Indonesia. Information about ethical transgressions will demonstrate consistency between public accountants' attitudes and actions. According to the study's findings, public accountants have various ethical perspectives. The idealist kind of public accountant views ethics as extending beyond compliance with the code of ethics and rules and grounds his behavior on the principles he believes in. The pragmatic type of public accountant limits ethics to compliance with the code of ethics and regulations. Different behaviors result from different understandings. While the idealistic public accountant can avoid unethical action, the pragmatic public accountant is easily drawn into it.

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