Articles

Breaking out of the Iron Cage
A Levinasian Perspective on Interconnectivity and Ethics through Face and Duality

ABSTRACT

Research Question/Issue: This essay explores ethics in a professional and practical context, through a brief introduction to ethics and business ethics from a Levinasian and Aristotelian perspective. The essay tries to address the fundamental question why ethics are important to professional associations and the public, not just as an iron cage to delimit participants, bust as an integral part of professional life. It touches on tensions inherent in the position and service delivery of professional accounting firms, and the role of developing a professional image for the accounting profession. Specifically, the essay will look at the code of ethics to determine limits to this means of enhancing professionalism, integrity, and the professional duty of care. I will identify and explore the gap between the professional code of ethics and the concept of ethics as described by Levinas as "sentience and emotion through interconnectivity" ¹ I will suggest that a lack of Levinasian interconnectivity through a one dimensional consideration of Others creates a iron form rather than substance approach to ethics. I will note that this has affected the profession and society negatively in closing the cage and thereby creating a barrier to that interconnectivity.

Introduction

"Classical Business ethics has the means to reassure us that business can be good without reference to tricky concepts such as the naturalistic fallacy, nor difficult empirical questions about the inherent correctness of profiting from addiction." – Bevan D. ²

"I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you." – Apology, Socrates' Defence (Plato)

Socrates (469 - 399 BC)

Effective auditors and philosophers can at times be as disruptive as gadflies. They raise arguments based around concepts such as the natural fallacy, alterity and international accounting standards. Some legal decisions have also likened auditors to "…Watchdogs" rather than "Bloodhounds" .³ Whatever your canine preference may be, the question is, have we been biting enough lately?

Some commentators believe auditors have not been biting enough. There is an increasing demand globally for professional bodies and professional accountants to be held accountable and to be regulated, rather than be self regulated, based on professional practice and codes of ethics. As an example, after the Enron collapse in the USA, the passing into law of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) provided for the establishment of the Professional Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) under the Act. ⁴ The PCAOB is tasked with the responsibility to independently oversee registered Certified Public Accountants (CPA) and firms. ⁵

New Zealand, meanwhile, has continued to rely on self-regulation of the accounting profession, under the umbrella of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountant's Act 1996 (NZICA Act). Some steps have been taken by NZICA to increase "independent" oversight, by appointing a number of independent assessors to conduct external reviews of member firms. At this time, reliance continues to be placed on the NZICA Code of Ethics in self regulating the profession, with guidance from the Code of Ethics, Independence in Assurance Engagements (COE: IAE). ⁶

This essay will analyze ethics in the context of the accounting profession in New Zealand through reference to Levinas, with input from other thinkers. ⁷ It will attempt to establish how effective a Code of Ethics can be in the context of corporations and self regulating professional associations. I will do so from the perspective and rationale for ethics, rather than any other considerations. I have therefore not covered the growing establishment of oversight bodies in other jurisdictions, alignment with other markets, risk of failure and so forth, which are used as arguments by other commentators, including the profession itself. In the process I aim to answer the question why ethics should be, via a process of reduction. In order to do so effectively, this essay is structured through an analysis of ethics, business ethics, codes of ethics, and the application of those codes of ethics to professional accounting.

Ethics

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. – George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

A principled and disciplined ethical approach to life and business can be perceived to be inconvenient, and unreasonable. The word unreasonable and Shaw's reference in which it is contained, are chosen deliberately. Reason is connected with rationale through a shared etymology, being derived from the Latin "rationem" (acc.) and initially from "reor", "to think, suppose or decide". Hence rationalization is a key ingredient in the process of personally justifying our perspectives, decisions and actions as we go through life. Ethics are held to be concerned with the duality of right or wrong in any particular set of circumstances. The process of justifying actions initiated by reason, as right or wrong, is through the process of rationalization. (Jones and Spraakman). ⁸

Thus, an initial reason needs to be rationalized by reduction. If it can't be rationalized, it can be perceived to be "unreasonable". I will therefore attempt to provide a rationale for the existence and need for ethics in order to avoid it being labelled "unreasonable" in some key aspects of human interaction, specifically in business. My rationale will be based on the thoughts of Levinas, who believed ethics can not be reduced or established without the intermediation of the Other and Third. I will show that it is appropriate to support a legal requirement such as the NZICA Code of Ethics with a rational concept of ethics, based on a duty of care to Levinas' Other and alterity. I will also show that the establishment of any code of ethics is not in itself sufficient due to historical misinterpretations of economics and the lack of concern for Levinas' alterity.

A discussion of any concept is usefully commenced by reference to a standard dictionary definition. A suitable definition is in the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, (Duska)⁹ , noting that Ethics are:

1. The discipline of dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty and obligation.
   
2. A set of moral principles or values
   
3. A theory or system of moral values
   
4. The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group.

These four definitions emphasize the diversity of approaches that different individuals, groups, and society at large attach to the word "ethics' to create substance to what is essentially ephemeral, but considered to be ephemerally essential. For some it is a discipline, for others a set of principles, a theory or a code of conduct.

According to Levinas, ethics are intertwined with societal and professional actions. One can confirm this connectivity and relevance of ethics by empirical observation. This includes the primacy of "Ethics" as a principle in many Codes of Corporate Governance. For example, the New Zealand Securities Commission Code lists its first principle as "directors should observe and foster high ethical standards." ¹⁰

NZICA, and its professional accounting members, operate under a mandate from the NZICA Act. The Act is part of the body of corporate common law in New Zealand, a body that has its historic roots in the concepts of equity and fairness. The first function of the NZICA listed in the Act is in s 5 (a) of the Act and states "To promote quality, expertise and integrity in the profession…" Sec 7 (1) of the same Act requires that the "Institute must always have a code of ethics that governs the professional conduct of its members". ¹¹ It is clear that the need for ethics are recognized and confirmed by society and the accounting profession.

Via a historically reductive process of the emergence of ethics (although Bevan notes that ethics themselves "evade reduction" (p. 143) ¹² , one could hypothesize that the emergence of ethics were interconnected with the development of society. The more complex a group or society, the more challenging ethical questions became. Society thereby increasingly valued ethics for reasons of creating stability and certainty of outcomes. In relation this this, Levinas ¹³ notes that the world may be understood in terms of a duality. On this basis, human relationships are founded on the exchanges and interrelationships between "Self" and "Other". It is at the point of intersection between "Self" and "Other" that ethics plays its role. The intersection may become more crowded by the relationships or intersects with Thirds, (being understood to include other individuals, an individual, or specific concepts and theories such as notions of equity, fairness and justice).

Levinas approached ethics in a metaphysical sense, and came to a similar conclusion as Bevan regarding the non reductive nature of ethics. For clarification, metaphysics is a term derived from Aristotle's ''ta meta ta physika'' the book that comes after '' ta physika'', Aristotle's writings on physics or what he comfortably felt to be supported by facts. Levinas approaches ethics in a Aristotelian metaphysical manner. He bases his writings on the face-to-face meeting, an everyday event that repeats itself millions of times globally, but which cannot be reduced "to the existence phenomenologically" ¹⁴ Alterity in this context means "Otherness". Face in this context does not mean the reducible concept of "face" from an everyday perspective, including pictures and photos. For Levinas face is constituted the non visible behind the face, that which is behind and makes the face beyond the picture. ¹⁵ Both Bevan and Levinas concur that ethics cannot be reduced, essentially metaphysical in the Aristotelian meaning of that word. We know it exists, we may agree it is good, but it escapes rational reduction.

Shearer ¹⁶ and others refer to Levinas to conclude on the inadequacies of current economic theory, the origins of which I have noted later to be a possible misinterpretation of economic writing. She notes that "Levinas' grounding of ethics in the asymmetry of the face-to-face points to the fundamental inadequacy of the self interest motive" (p. 560). In spite of the well intentioned reasons proposed, including alterity, this still leaves the question why ethics should exist at all. Can ethics be proven scientifically as a concept to support the NZICA Code of Ethics, grounded in ethics as it is? Is Shearer's self interest motive without a care for ethics not an acceptable option by accepting that the Law of the Jungle is an alternative?

Extending Levinas' thinking, and "reductive" reasoning, at one stage the natural world was likely populated by very few human beings, and a limited number of "Selfs", "Others" and "Thirds", or even one single human being, one "Self". There would hypothetically have been no or a limited need for any ethics, in absence of any interactions, obligations, rights or duties to "Others" and "Thirds". I propose that ethics as a concept therefore likely became more necessary as individuals and groups started to coalesce into societies, with an increase in Levinas' faces. This happened around 40,000 years ago, during mass migrations from the African continent, as lately theorized by biologists and DNA researchers.

The emergence of ethics may well have been related to these recurring emigrations from the African continent, and the spread of humans around the world, creating increasing societal and cultural complexities. Another factor in the development of philosophy and ethics may have been the development of the neo cortex, supporting an advanced vocabulary for intangible and symbolic concepts, moving beyond the everyday language requirements of a group of hunter gatherers. Biologists note that "Although the human brain had reached its current size some 150,000 years ago, the first evidence of symbolic thought didn't appear until tens of thousands years later. Our symbolic awakening occurred when human beings began to use their brains differently." ¹⁷

The different usage of our brain muscles in varying geographic and climatic environments, with a related range of challenges, created the impetus for mental developments and 'muscle memory". That is not to say that the different cultural settings necessarily changed the basic ethics, the duality of right or wrong or of the Self and Other, in any material ways. It changed the way those component parts of the dualities referred to are likely to be culturally rationalized, in order to make a wrong right, within the relevant cultural paradigms, and considering the status of Levinas' alterity.

The University of Wisconsin, has scientifically identified parts of the neo cortex as being concerned with language faculties, happiness and ethics. Altruism appears to be hard coded in the much older parts of the brain. Altruism and its connotations with care and compassion are a potential precursor to development related to symbolism and intangibles. Symbolism is inherent to the consideration of topics such as ethics, which requires the development of language and brain plasticity (R Davidson) to deal with abstract theories. ¹⁸ Science therefore appears to be progressing towards a biological explanation of ethics, through scientific study. It is not unusual for metaphysics to make the transition to physics through the process of scientific reduction. This may well lead to rational answers why ethics are good and necessary, similar to particle accelerator experiments at CERN in Switzerland to determine what exactly caused the Big Bang. ¹⁹

From the hypothetical date of the development of the neo cortex, we can trace the historical and on-going philosophical debate about what constitutes ethics, initially through shamanic practices. This debate, conducted and recorded by some of the great philosophers of our human history, are to a large extent the basis on which each one of us perceive the world, including the concept of ethics. I will now explore more fully the writings and thoughts of Levinas and his perspective on ethics. It is relevant to reflect briefly on his background as an influence on his perspectives, in order to determine his relevance to the rationalization of ethics.

Levinas was born into a Jewish family in Kaunas in Lithuania in 1906, in the same year as Jean Paul Sartre. He left Lithuania in 1914 with his family, and moved to the Ukraine and then to Paris to study philosophy from 1923. It is useful to recall the events of that time, including the creation of an independent Lithuania after centuries of occupation by major powers. This took place while Levinas was a teenager and in the immediate post war euphoria that created the Roaring Twenties. He studied with Pradines, Blondel, Halbwachs and Blanchot, who became a close friend. He also studied in Freiburg with Husserl and Heidegger. He was one of the first philosophers to publish a philosophical analysis of Hitlerism in 1934, when Hitler was still consolidating his power over the German state. Levinas naturalized to French citizenship in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, and became a French army officer. He was captured and interned for the duration of the war, losing his Lithuanian family in the process of ethnic cleansing that resulted from Hitler's inhuman racial policies. He continued to write and publish more extensively after the war years, on both Talmudic philosophy and European philosophers, including Heidegger and Husserl. It is clear that these particular life circumstances, including strong influences from a Talmudic teacher in the 1930's, influenced much of Levinas' work, similar to Habermas who grew up during and in the aftermath of the second world war.

As Jacques Derrida pointed out in 1967, "Levinas does not want to propose laws or moral rules…it is a matter of [writing] an ethics of ethics". ²⁰ He further noted "It is true that Ethics in Levinas's sense is an ethics without law and without concept, which maintains its non-violent purity only before being determined as concepts and laws. This is not an objection: let us not forget that Levinas does not seek to propose…moral rules, does not seek to determine a morality, but rather the essence of the ethical relation in general…in question, then, is an Ethics of Ethics [which]…can occasion neither a determined ethics nor determined laws without negating and forgetting itself" (p. 111; French, p. 164). Ethics therefore exist only before they are observed. It requires a Third to observe the face to face event and to judge it, which turns it into reducible laws, regulations and codes of ethics. The observation itself creates the reality, but that reality will differ between Thirds. Additionally, the observation and guidance from Others and Thirds is also essential to the inculcation of ethics as I have noted further in this essay.

At this point my brief introduction of non reductionist philosophers and writers has not been able to define conclusively the rationale for ethics. I have been able to intimate a scientific plausibility, and references to empirical evidence as evidenced by codes of ethics, laws and dictionaries, appear to point towards ethics as being considered good. I have no conclusive scientific evidence for this. As this essay has as one of the primary foci the definition of the nexus between professional associations and codes of ethics, I will next analyze the codification and establishment of ethical frameworks, via a discussion of business ethics. I will do this in the acceptance that ethics cannot be reduced at this point.

Business ethics

Management's role is "to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in the law, and those embodied in ethical custom". ²¹ – Milton Friedman.

"Language creates reality" ²². – Ferdinand de Saussure

"The corporation is amoral but the people who run the corporation are not amoral, (1970)". When Milton Friedman made this statement in 1970, ²³ he was not to know how often sections of this quote, and the one earlier mentioned, would be repeated. The reason for the introductory quotes from Saussure and Friedman, is to emphasize how easy it is for a sentence or phrase to be taken and quoted out of context, and how it then takes on a life of its own, almost like a separate psychic entity. For this reason I believe Levinas avoided the use of prescription in his writings, as noted by Derrida. He recognized the power of the word in directing Others and Thirds for negative purposes, by example of writings such as Hitler's Mein Kampf. It is also clear that the convenient misinterpretation of Friedman's words may be one major reason for the Global Financial Crisis similar to the impact of the concept of Aryan supremacy in Mein Kampf.

Many articles I have reviewed for this essay follow the line Duska notes in his book, which is that business ethics are somewhat of an oxymoron. ²⁴ He includes a chapter in his book titled "Business ethics: Oxymoron or Good Business?' According to "classical" business studies I completed in the 1980's, including courses covering economic thought from the Chicago school of Economics, the "business of business is business", economic actors aim to maximise profits and 'Corporations are amoral". But Friedman, based on the above quote, did not actually believe this either. Bevan (p. 135) ²⁵ goes as far as to claim that it is these mistaken beliefs that have been the cause of so many "Business Ethics" failures. He may have referred to the subsequent interpretations by others of noted academics such as Friedman, rather than what these thinkers originally meant. Teri Shearer further notes (p.543) "Main stream accounting's reliance upon neo classical economics severely curtails the scope of accountability demanded of the economic entities for which we account". ²⁶ Has the increased bottom line focus of the profession been influenced by the misinterpretation of what constitutes classical economic theory, and thereby radically impacted on alterity? The consequent self centred and imposed constraints of accountants in recognizing the Other and Third beyond the company doors of the iron cage, and the balance sheets they audit, are in Shearer's opinion the major cause of ethical failures and much of our globally increasing malaise.

I believe that the aforementioned constraints find their origins in misunderstanding and misinterpretation. As an example, Shearer notes by reference to a quote from Schweiker (1993), "to hold economic actors to be accountable in exclusively self interested terms is contradictory to the moral identity that is enacted in the practice of giving an account". Schweiker argues, accordingly, that the mere act of rendering an account enacts a moral obligation. The question is not whether an obligation exists, because this is enshrined by law and codes of ethics and confirmed by Levinas. The question is whether there is an ethical rationale for codes of ethics and why this should be so. Further, if accountability is a material factor in this calculation, I believe the question should not be as to whether but how far the net need be cast for accountants to meet their ethical obligations.

One formal definition of Business Ethics is "The study of business situations and activities where issues of right and wrong are considered." ²⁷ Rather than accepting this didactically oriented definition I propose to combine a definition in the Merriam Webster, resulting in the following: "The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group in the context of business". Duska refers to the social evolution of business, in tandem with societal developments. If we are to accept that ethics were driven by societal developments, in line with Levinas' theory of Self, Others and Thirds, then it becomes clear that the same concept applies to business organisations, being a product of societal development, with the same three actors Levinas has noted. ²⁸ In fact, rather than the romantic and blinkered notion that business operates through an invisible hand we would then accept that business is not amoral. Serious students of economics would not disregard the fact that Adam Smith preceded his oft quoted work, the "Wealth of Nations" with a much lesser know work called "The Theory of Moral Sentiments". They would also recognize that Smith was a Professor of philosophy at Glasgow University, to emphasize that economic development can not occur successfully without firm moral principles and a philosophical foundation. What is the role of ethics in this context?

Duska notes that in order to assess the role of ethics in business one needs to fully understand the rationale for business ethics, on a basis of a review of the motive and purpose of business. He arrives at the conclusion, in line with Adam Smith's proposal, that the purpose or "the business of business" is the production of goods and services for the benefit of society, rather than the amoral pursuit of profit. Profits are an outcome rather than the purpose, and the confusion over this may have been the reason for so many business failures where the tension between the popular understanding of the purpose of business clashed with the ethics of the individual.

It is this confusion over the motive and purpose of business that has similarly affected the individual "Human Resources", the "Human Capital", or even the "Organisational DNA" as noted by Rowland Smith ²⁹ that make up the "amoral corporation". As it is proposed that the organization is amoral and only interested in profit maximization while leaving societal concerns of "Others" and "Thirds" to be solved by an "Invisible Hand", it also becomes evident that the individuals cannot at the same time be ethical, to avoid being in conflict with that stated organizational objective. Without great argument over Friedman's famous dictum, it is quite clear it is a practical impossibility in the first place, and I don't believe Friedman every wanted it to be interpreted this way, as noted earlier.

Following on from this is appears logical that one cannot be "amoral" and at the same time have a code of ethics, creating an inherent tension due to the aforementioned oxymoron. From personal observation I note that companies and individuals have therefore recognized that pure amorality is not possible.

Without a thorough understanding of this confusion and the background thereto, which has been caused by economic thinkers and commentators, business ethics becomes "reduced to a regime of corporate social responsibility, operating insidiously in trans national organisations only as a manufactured, cynical, form of public relations supporting business as usual, with neither reference to, nor influence on, what is actually practiced." Bevan ³⁰

I have noted that the digression of business away from ethics may have been a historical misunderstanding based on the selective use of quotations and economic and philosophical thinking. I have noted that some significant economic thinkers were in fact philosophers of ethics. I have also noted that Levinas' duality of Self and Others applies as much to business as to society at large, as business is a construct of society. There appears to be a case to state that ethics and business are closely intertwined, as one would expect.

Codes of ethics

"By means of a positivist classical equivalence, something called "Codes of Ethics" can be so-arranged to make companies ethical". – Bevan

The accounting profession has developed through a series of economic disasters from their inception in the mid 1850's ( Bougen.) ³¹ Bougen further notes that by the late 1870's there was a need to portray the profession as a stable, boring and value driven profession to ensure maintenance of public confidence in the services so rendered. He notes "Even by 1886 and after the formation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales…auditing is still in great part and probably in a large majority of instances, in the hands of unskilled, or at least unduly qualified persons." ³² It is at this time that we start to see the first professional codes of ethics being promulgated, alongside discussions about raising the standards of the profession. ³³

An interesting perspective on professional codes of ethics comes from the research into feminist perspectives on ethics. Reiter ³⁴ notes that the feminist perspective on ethics is one more predisposed towards an "Ethics of Care", as compared to the more masculine approach and attitude towards ethics as "Ethics of Rights". In her argument, there are shades of the duality of sophia and phronesis as explained by Aristotle in his Nichomachean Ethics, and the 'Yin' and 'Yang' of Tao. Aristotle considered phronesis to be a more practical wisdom and even prudence, with the aim of applying wisdom to stimulate change and benefit to society. He contrasted this with sophia, which considers the establishment of Universal Truths. Reiter also noted that the accounting and auditing profession, from its earliest days, was predominantly male, which may have contributed to a very much universal and rule bound approach to dealing with the ethical dilemmas of business, and a reduction of essentially varied and complex situations to a set of Universal Truths and a consequent routine of ticking boxes. ³⁵

Using Reiter's hypothesis and the history behind the first codes of ethics, can ethics thus be codified and will they then be effective? Bevan quotes that the "classical business ethics framework is a convenient translation or realisation of the bureaucratic iron cage" ³⁶ This evokes the imagery of a code of ethics supporting this cage or even of being a part of the cage. In contrast, Duska noted in the foreword to his book on business ethics ³⁷ that "most people teaching ethics have learnt their first lessons from their family" ie in Reiter's context, an Ethics of Care. He then provides some examples of learning from his parents and grandparents through admonitions and feedback. Any and all of such pieces of wisdom, whether in proverbs, common sayings and admonitions, came about as part of hands-on learning, through examples and real life. The art of transference of ethics appears to be the art of mentoring and coaching, while being engaged with the "Other", to provide feedback and learning based on real life case studies and context. Caring has to be taught and reinforced, from simple matters like holding a door open for an elder person when you are six years old and getting praised by your parents. St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, summed it up well when he noted "give me the boy until seven years old and I will give you the man".

That simple act of holding a door open brings the "Other" and the "Self" in clear perspective and creates the sense that caring is a good thing, as a prerequisite for the aforementioned ethics of care. One could summarize this by stating that a care-less person could care-less about ethics. Smith confirmed this as part of his writings on economic and moral theory: "To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature." ³⁸

It can be confirmed that ethics are inherent in our actions, and cannot be separated to stand alone, as an "iron cage" or as a "component" part of any Corporate Governance framework, which perpetuates the notion of ethics and ethical behaviour as somehow disconnected or narrowly connected. Sen (1997, p 5) notes that this popular tension between morals and business, in that "There is an interesting asymmetry between the treatments of business principles and moral sentiments in standard economic analysis. Business principles are taken to be very rudimentary (essentially restricted to ….profit maximization)…. In contrast, moral sentiments are seen to be quite complex….but it is assumed, at least in economic matters, they have very narrow reach." ³⁹

In this light the establishment of a code of ethics for the profession or any organization could be held to represent the initial codification of a subset of universal truths (Sophia) and not yet the effective integration of ethics in daily professional situations (Phronesis). It is this factor that is one of the more challenging to the professional accountant, and one that will have led to the number of corporate collapses and the calls for greater oversight of the profession.

Malthus and Scoble note, "Independence is the cornerstone of the auditing profession". Further, audited financial reports are reliable and meaningful if they are "generated by individuals who act with integrity" as noted by Jones and Spraakman ⁴⁰ It is at the intersect between Self, Others and Thirds that the auditor's integrity and ethics are constantly tested. It is at this same intersect that the purpose and alterity of stakeholders of the accounting profession needs to be clearly understood, in light of tensions inherent in profit motives and the duty of care, fairness and equity. It is this duty of care that is a pillar of our common law. And it is this aspect of ethics that is often overlooked or neglected due to the establishment of a code of ethics to reflect the Ethics of Rights, as compared to the more feminine approach of Ethics of Care. Duty of care means consideration of Levinas' Others and Thirds, via a recognition that a face is not a face in a conventional sense and appreciating Alterity. An acceptance of these principles will positively affect the quality of professional work auditors and accountants perform, and should therefore be one of the main drivers for ethical accounting beyond the iron cage.

Conclusions

Codes of ethics and written conventions are necessary to reaffirm the general principles within which a profession operates. I would argue that a core understanding of Levinas' alterity is needed to extend such conventions from a pure ethics of Rights. I have noted that that the process of building awareness of Alterity will be more effective if done at an early age. The inherent programming necessary for the detailed definition of what is within ethics and how to apply it contextually may be sub optimal if left until later when professionals commit to the NZICA Code of Ethics. Without this education there will be an on-going and reduced individual understanding of what is right or wrong. As atoms and sub atomic particles influence the whole, so a profession or society's members will ultimately affect their profession or society through a perceived incorrect rationalization of wrong into right. A code of ethics may then be a "Form" rather than a "Substance" function.

Levinas' concept of Self, Other and Thirds creates a straightforward basis on which to gather circumstantial evidence to support the concepts of duty of care and compassion, through the recognition alterity, of the face of Others, as being more than what we see and as being the prime motivation for professional care and integrity. The moment we put such face to Others, empathy levels rise and the Ethics of Care take over, to break the limitations and constraints self-imposed by professionals that led to the economic and other breakdowns we have witnessed in recent years.

Until science answers many of the open ended questions, the rationale for ethics will have to be based on the common belief of society that it is good. A revision of economic thinking and an analysis of the founding writers will also be very useful, to address public and professional misconceptions of what is motive and what is purpose. This applies to both society and individuals. We would likely not be asking these questions were it not for this confusion.

1. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/levinas/ p. 1

2. Bevan, D. (2008). Continental Philosophy: A Grounded Theory Approach and the Emergence of Convenient and Inconvenient Ethics. Cutting Edge Issues in Business Ethics. M. Painter-Morland and P. Werhane. Boston, Springer. 24: p 136.

3. Lopes LJ, Re Kingston Cotton Mill Co (No 2) [1896] 2 Ch 673.

4. Sarbanes Oxley Act, Title I, http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/gwbush/sarbanesoxley072302.pdf

5. PCAOB Inspections. http://pcaobus.org/Inspections/Pages/default.aspx

6. Sue Malthus and Kevin Scoble, Independent Oversight of External Auditors. Is there a need in New Zealand? Working Paper Series No 3/2005. Dec 2005. p 4

7. Sue Malthus and Kevin Scoble, Independent Oversight of External Auditors. Is there a need in New Zealand? Working Paper Series No 3/2005. Dec 2005. p 4

8. Jones J & Spraakman G. A Case of academic misconduct. Does self interest rule? (2010)

9. R. Duska, Contemporary Reflections on Business Ethics, Issues in Business Ethics, Volume 23. Chapter 1 "What is Ethics", p. 3.

10. Corporate Governance in New Zealand. Principles and Guidelines. 2004. New Zealand Securities Commission.

11. New Zealand Institute of chartered Accountants Act (1996)

12. Bevan, D. (2008). Continental Philosophy: A Grounded Theory Approach and the Emergence of Convenient and Inconvenient Ethics. Cutting Edge Issues in Business Ethics. M. Painter-Morland and P. Werhane. Boston, Springer. 24: p 136.

13. Ibid.

14. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/levinas/notes.html#2

15. R Burggraeve, Violence and the Vulnerable Face of the Other, Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol 30, No 1, Spring 1999, p 29 - 45.

16. Shearer T: Ethics and Accountability; from the for-itself to the for-the-other. Accounting, Organizations and Society 27 (2002), 541 - 573.

17. What makes us Human. American Museum of Natural History. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/humanorigins/human/human.php.

18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Davidson.

19. http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/lhc-en.html

20. Jacques Derrida, "Violence and Metaphysics" in Writing and Difference, trans. Alan Bass (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1980; first published in 1967), pp. 79-153.

21. Milton Friedman. The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970. http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html . As noted in The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility, Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders. Carroll A.B. Business Horizons, July/August 1991. p 43.

22. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ferdinand_de_Saussure

23. Friedman. M. The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970. http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

24. Duska R., Contemporary Reflections on Business Ethics, Issues in Business Ethics, Volume 23. Chapter 1 "What is Ethics", p. 3.

25. Bevan, D. (2008). Continental Philosophy: A Grounded Theory Approach and the Emergence of Convenient and Inconvenient Ethics. Cutting Edge Issues in Business Ethics. M. Painter-Morland and P. Werhane. Boston, Springer. 24: p 136.

26. Shearer T: Ethics and Accountability; from the for-itself to the for-the-other. Accounting, Organizations and Society 27 (2002), 541 - 573.

27. Ibid. Crane et al. 2007, p 5, as quoted by R Bevan p. 137

28. Levinas, E. Totality and Infinity - An essay on exteriority. (A Lingis, Trans) Pittsburgh PA: Duquesne University press.

29. R Rowland Smith. Breakfast with Socrates, The Philosophy of everyday Life. www.profilebooks.com p. 39

30. Bevan, D. (2008). Continental Philosophy: A Grounded Theory Approach and the Emergence of Convenient and Inconvenient Ethics. Cutting Edge Issues in Business Ethics. M. Painter-Morland and P. Werhane. Boston, Springer. 24: p 139.

31. Bougen D. Joking Apart, The serious side to the accountant stereotype, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol 19, No 3, p 327

32. Ibid. Quoting Cooper , 1921, p 32

33. http://www.icaew.com/index.cfm/route/155692/icaew_ga/en/Home/About_us/History_of_accounting/1881__1913

34. S. Reiter, The Ethics of Care and New Paradigms for Accounting Practice, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal , Vol 10, No 3, February 1997. pp 299 - 324

35. Ibid. p. 301

36. Bevan, D. (2008). Continental Philosophy: A Grounded Theory Approach and the Emergence of Convenient and Inconvenient Ethics. Cutting Edge Issues in Business Ethics. M. Painter-Morland and P. Werhane. Boston, Springer. 24: p 144.

37. R. Duska, Contemporary Reflections on Business Ethics, Issues in Business Ethics, Volume 23. Chapter 1 "What is Ethics", p. 3.

38. J Herbener, an Integration of the Wealth of Nations and the Theory of Moral sentiments. The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol VIII.No 2 (Summer 1987)

39. Where is the ethical knowledge in the knowledge economy? K McPhail, Critical Perspectives on accounting 20, 2009. p 806.

40. Jones J & Spraakman G. A Case of academic misconduct. Does self interest rule? (2010).

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