Lies, Sex, and Suicide: Teaching Fundamental Accounting Concepts with Sordid Tales from the Seamier Side of Accounting History

Abstract

The Academy of Accounting Historians has as its motto the Latin proverb praetera illuminet postera, the past illuminates the future. It is an apt motto in many ways. Certainly, many thoughtful accounting academics and professionals will consider how accounting theory and practice have evolved over time, and thereby gain a deeper insight into how both professional and scholarly endeavors should be conducted. But this AHJ Salmagundi article suggests another way by which the past can illuminate the future. Accounting history provides concrete examples of fundamental accounting concepts. And, because many of these examples are found in scandalous, shocking, and sordid events, the lessons could be more compellingly and vividly illustrated to the audience, by the operation of the rhetorical phenomena collectively known as the Aristotelean Triad.