Title: Resurrecting the social Pacioli: ethics, gender and other silences

Authors: Aida Sy

Addresses: St. John's University, Department of Accounting and Taxation, Peter Tobin School of Business, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY 11439, USA

Abstract: Adam Smith and Frater Luca Bartolomes Pacioli were both victims of misreading: Smith was not an unabashed booster of market capitalism who saw no overseeing role for the government. Pacioli was more than just an architect of bookkeeping. Smith|s Moral Philosophy provides an ethical criterion for critically reviewing Pacioli|s work and beyond. This paper uses Smith in a quest for |the other| Pacioli, through a close reading of his opus, the SUMMA. We find prescient remarks on morality (ethics), gender, work, labour, professionalism and management. This resurrection of a social Pacioli prompts the question as to what lessons might be learned from |other Pacioli|s.

Keywords: moral philosophy; capitalism; Pacioli; Adam Smith; ethics; gender; work; labour; professionalism; management; accounting.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2005.009596

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2005 Vol.2 No.4, pp.441 - 449

Published online: 02 May 2006 *

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