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Straw Men And Old Saws -- An Evidence-Based Response To Sy And Tinker's Critique, Thomas N. Tyson, David Oldroyd

Accounting Historians Journal

In a recent Accounting History article, Sy and Tinker (S&T) [2005] critique accounting history for its support of archivalism and empiricism in light of irrefutable arguments against these antiquarian epistemes. While tempted to lambaste S&T's article as unfettered social activism rather than evidence-based historical inquiry, we focus instead on the more substantive questions S&T raise. We initially summarize their essential arguments, although some of the statements they make are contradictory in nature. We then discuss fundamental issues and genuine challenges to accounting history posed by the post-Kuhnian critique that S&T and others represent, as well as the nature and purpose …