Principales planteamientos epistemológicos en el debate Lee, Macintosh, Mattessich

Abstract

In this paper I examine the main epistemological ideas in a debate initiated by Thomas Lee (2006) in which he advanced some criticisms against the 2002 FASB’s proposal to formulate principle based accounting standards (PBAS) and made some remarks on certain problems strictly epistemological. In particular, Lee discussed realism, the nature of accounting facts, the notion of “representational faithfulness” and the epistemological views that he considered more promising to illuminate the theoreticalpractical activities of accounting. For this analysis I take into account the contributions, arguments and counter-arguments by Lee, Macintosh and Mattessich. After presenting their main views, I evaluate the discussion and analyze the merits of each perspective. I conclude by showing that, from an epistemological viewpoint, Mattessich’s statements are better informed and rest upon stronger and better articulated arguments on aspects as the nature of the relationship between accounting theory and the facts treated by it, the role of accounting information, the notion of “representational faithfulness” and the referential character of the accounting concepts. 

Keywords:

Lee

Macintosh

Mattessich

información contable

representación

fidelidad representacional

realismo

Lee

Macintosh

Mattessich

Accounting Information

Representation

Representational Faithfulness

Realism

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