ACCOUNTING THEORY: ONTOLOGY OF ESSENCE AND SCIENCE
Accounting Theory. Ontological Foundations. Hermeneutics. Philosophy of Science.
The search for a "general theory" of accounting takes place assuming the concept of "theory" typical of contemporary science, that is, of an operational model, which enables a certain construction of objective knowledge. But the "theory" depends on the object and its nature, that is, on the object region (or field or sector of beings). Hence the need for an ontology and an immanent, productive logic, proper to accounting. Bunge (1998) notes that most of the social sciences already have conjectures and theories themselves, some of which have been developed mathematically, making more precise empirical research possible. That is, the evolution of research indicates the possibility of an objective explanation of social phenomena, which strengthens the thesis of the methodological unity of science and also indicates that the social sciences have presented scientific methodological development, based on objective bases and manifested in several disciplines such as sociology, politics and history. However, they lack an underlying explicit ontological foundation. Thus, this thesis project aims to highlight the basic (essential) ontological foundations of accounting science in its various ontic nuclei as assumptions for the development of a Hermeneutic General Theory of Accounting. In this sense, the research will assume an exploratory nature of a critical-interpretative character that will use a qualitative approach. Therefore, a 5-step methodological path will be carried out using the phenomenological-hermeneutic method.