Aristotle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aristotle - Essay Example At that juncture, Aristotle left Plato’s school and went off to have other adventures as a philosopher and teacher. Eventually Aristotle moved to the court of Philip of Macedonia, and became a teacher to Philip’s son, Alexander. Alexander would later become Alexander the Great, a military leader whose methods are still studied in military schools around the world. Aristotle’s influence on Alexander is evidenced by how he treated his enemies and conquered peoples. Aristotle taught Alexander until he assumed the role of king at the age of 18. In Aristotle’s lifetime he wrote many major works, but only 31 survive currently (IEP). Aristotle’s influence is world wide because his mind formed the basis of schools of philosophy for 2000 years and was used to reconcile church faith to education and logic. Authors Roy Matthews, DeWitt Platt, and Thomas Noble state that Aristotle â€Å"had the most comprehensive mind of the ancient world. His curiosity and va st intellect led him into every major field of inquiry of his time, except mathematics and music† (Matthews, Platt and Noble 74). Thus, Aristotle’s influence is wide. Schools of philosophy formed around Aristotle’s ideas. ... Having an effect on the theology of a church begs the question then, how much influence did Aristotle have on faith, rather than reason, and does this influence water down Christianity? Does philosophy belong within religion, which is supposed to be based on faith alone? During the dark ages there were some areas of light. Rulers, who would try to educate some of their subjects, made this light. Two outstanding educator rulers were King Alfred of England and Charlemagne, King of the Franks. European education died out when these two rulers passed from the world scene, but later a teacher, Abelard, who was affiliated with the University of Paris, would again go to Aristotle’s restored works to try to reconcile the church dogma with philosophy to end the rivalry between logic and faith. Aristotle was the bridge to achieve this peace. His logic in deconstructing an argument still is a standard and elementary concepts presented in any philosophy class. In the Poetics for example, Aristotle reasons the basic units of society and how they evolve into a state. He relates how man is a political being and gives advice about how humans need to live in a political state. These musings form some of the basis for western thought and politics that Americans use. The Founding Fathers used works of philosophy such as those of Aristotle as well as those from Enlightenment of the 1600s who were wrestling with science or reason over faith. The American founders put their faith in reason by separating church from state, as politics should not be faith based but based on logic and rationality devoid of any faith whatsoever. However, the current political field in the U. S. seems to have forgotten these basic philosophical rules when appealing

Provision of Non Audit Services by the Auditor to the Audit Client Is Essay

Provision of Non Audit Services by the Auditor to the Audit Client Is a Threat to Auditors' Independence - Essay Example Introduction The value of an audited financial statement depends on the auditor’s independence. Accounting scandals such as Enron of the United States as well as HIH Insurance of Australia have created doubts regarding auditor’s independence and the value of their audit. The familiarity that is developed from the long audit tenure and the economic dependence arising from the non audit services and social bond developed between the auditor and the auditor’s client through long-term association have raised questions regarding auditor independence (Carson & Simnett, 2006). Non Audit Services (NAS) are also identified as ‘management advisory services’. Regulators believe that non audit services provided to audit clients is a serious threat to the auditors’ independence. Regulators believe that conflicts of interest occur and fee dependence has a damaging affect on auditor independence. Audit firms often defend themselves by saying that fee depende nce does not influence them and audit and non audit services are performed independently by separate staff (Houghton & Ikin, 2001). It is also opined that non auditing services help in reduction of total costs, improve technical competence and intensify competition. The audit firms, the audit clients and regulatory bodies can bring about efficient services mix through market interaction (Arrunada, 1999). 2. Literature Review 2.1 Non Audit Services of Auditors The services that external auditors provide to their clients can be categorised into consulting, tax and audit. Consulting and tax are often referred as non audit services. Section 201 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act lays down the services which the external audit firm should not perform. They cannot perform bookkeeping services related to financial statements and accounting records. They cannot design or implement financial information systems. They cannot perform valuation or appraisal services, actuarial services, management funct ions, legal services, litigation or administration related expert services. The auditor is also prohibited from providing marketing and planning related non audit services to the audit client and tax services to the management team or the family members of the team (Burke & et. al., 2008). 2.2 Threat to Auditor’s Independence It is believed that NAS services of auditors change their role from that of an outsider who can take a transparent view to that of an insider who actively participates in the decision making and acts as an advisor. The economic bond that is created between the audit client and the auditor through their contract hampers the auditor’s independence. In order to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the independence of auditors, it is essential to examine the marginal fee dependence that results from the NAS services in addition to the total fee dependence. It has been stated that auditors should factually as well as in terms of appearance, be indepen dent. NAS has an impact on the perception regarding the independence of auditors and it creates doubt regarding the authenticity of the auditor’s information (Francis, 2006). Legislations have banned the provision of several NAS by auditors for preserving the auditor’s independence. Regulators believed that auditors could go to the extent of sacrificing their independence in order to retain clients who pay large non audit fees (Defond & et. al., 2002) The various threats