Abstract
Value is increasingly found in human subjects and in particular within their minds. This places the individual at the centre of economic life and therefore the inner life of individual merits more attention. A key element of humanity is memory and it drives such phenomena as trust and goodwill, essential in modern business. Bergson’s philosophy examines the interaction of mind and matter and in this reflects the dualism of the knowledge economy. His work on memory offers important insights for those seeking to account for and manage intangible assets. Our paper examines, through the prism of Bergsonian philosophy, the implications for accounting practice of the increased importance of intangible assets in modern corporations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong, Peter, ‘The Influence of Michel Foucault on Accounting Research’ Critical perspectives on Accounting (1994) 5, 25–55.
Acemoglu, D., Aghion, P., Griffith, R. and Zilibotti. ‘Vertical Integration and Technology: Theory and Evidence.’ Journal of the European Economic Association, 2010, 8(5), 989–1033.
Bergson, Henri, Matter and Memory (New York: Zone Books 1991).
Bergson, Henri, The Creative Mind (New Jersey: Replica Books 1999)
Bergson Introduction to Metaphysics (T.E. Hume Translation) (Indianapolis: Hackett 1999)
Bontis, N., 2001, ‘Assessing Knowledge Assets: A review of the models used to measure intellectual capital’, International Journal of Management Reviews, 3, 1, 41–60.
Chiari, Joseph Twentieth-century French thought: from Bergson to Levi-Strauss (London: Elek, 1975.)
Cohen, Richard A, ‘Philo, Spinoza and Bergson’ in Mullarkey, John (ed.) The New Bergson (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999.)
Colombo, Gianluca, ‘Actualising Bergson’s lesson: a post-post modern perspective’ Journal of Management and Governance 13:3 2009, 261–267
Cowton, Christopher J. & Dopson, Sue, ‘Foucault’s prison? Management control in an automotive distributor’ Management Accounting Research, 2002, 13, 191–213.
Davison, J. (2004) ‘Sacred Vestiges in Space and Time: Mythical Readings Guided by Mircea Eliade,’ Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, 17, 3, pp.476–497.
Ewald, Francois, ‘The Return of the Crafty Genius: An Outline of a Philosophy of Precaution’, Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, 1999
Foucault, Michel, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison (Harmondsworth: Penguin 1979)
Foucault, Michel, Technologies of the Self (London: Tavistock 1988).
International Accounting Standards Board [IASB], (2008) IAS 38 Intangible Assets (amended), IASB, London).
Kaplan, Robert S. Norton, David P. Strategy maps: converting intangible assets into tangible outcomes Boston: (Harvard Business Press, 2004)
Kaufmann, Stuart (2008) Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion. London: Basic Books
Kolakowski, Leszek, Bergson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.)
Krijnen, Christian & Kee Bas Philosophy of economics and management & organization studies: a critical Introduction (Deventer: Kluver 2009)
Kwon, I. ‘R&D Portfolio and Market Structure.’ Economic Journal, 2010, 120(543), pp. 313–323.
Lev, B. Intangibles: Management, Measurement, and Reporting. (Brookings Institution, Press, Washington, D.C., 2001.)
Low, J, ‘The Invisible Advantage: Getting a Grasp on Intangible Assets’ Perspectives on Business Innovation Issue 7: Valuing Intangibles 2002
Mullarkey, John (ed.) The New Bergson (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999.)
Nagel, Thomas, The View from Nowhere (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press 1986).
Nakamura, L. ‘A Trillion Dollars a Year in Intangible Investment and the New Economy’ in Hand, J., and L. Baruch, eds, Intangible Assets: Values, Measures and Risks. Oxford University Press, 2003.
Nonaka, I and Takeuchi, H (1995), The Knowledge-creating Company, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pilkington, A.E., Bergson and his Influence A reassessment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1976)
Power, Michael (2004) ‘Counting, calculation and control: an essay on the organization of measurement’ Human Relations, (2004) 57 (6). pp. 765–783.
Romer, Paul (1994) ‘New Goods, Old Theory, and the Welfare Costs of Trade Restrictions’ Journal of Development Economics, No. 43 (1), pp. 5–38.
Ricoeur, Paul, Memory, History, Forgetting (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 2004).
Simmel, Georg The Philosophy of Money (trans Tom Bottomore and David Frisby) (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1978)
Spender J.C and Scherer, Andreas Georg “The Philosophical Foundations of Knowledge Management: Editors’ Introduction” Organization (2007) 14. pp.5–28.
Spinoza, B Ethics (London: Dent 1959)
Styhre, Alexander, (2003) ‘Knowledge as a Virtual Asset: Bergson’s Notion of Virtuality and Organizational Knowledge,’ Culture and Organisation, 9, 1, 15–26.
Styhre, Alexander ‘Rethinking Knowledge: A Bergsonian Critique of the Notion of Tacit Knowledge’ British Journal of Management (2004) 15. pp. 177–188.
Taylor, Charles, ‘Engaged Agency and Background in Heidegger’ in Charles Guignon (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)
Velupillai, Kumarawamy (2010) ‘In Praise of Anarchy in Teaching and Research’, Economic and Political Weekly Vol. XLV, No 14, April 3, pp. 50–55.
Whitebrook, Joel, ‘Against Interiority: Foucault’s Struggle with Psychoanalysis’ in Gutting, Gary (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Foucault (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2005)
Zambelli, Stefano (2004) ‘Production of Ideas by Means of Ideas: The Turing Machine Metaphor.’ Metroeconomica, 55(2-3), pp.155–179.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mullins, M., O’Regan, P., Kinsella, S. et al. Accounting for Intangibles, the Knowledge Economy and the Issue of Memory; Some insights from Philosophy of Bergson. Philos. of Manag. 12, 49–64 (2013). https://doi.org/10.5840/pom201312318
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/pom201312318