Norman Macintosh: Accounting academe's joyful kynic

Borrowing from work that examines the problem of cynicism in Western society and drawing from the insights of French theory and continental philosophy, this paper focuses on the work of Norman Macintosh, arguing that the work of this accomplished academic contains a much-needed ‘kynical impulse’ that counters the modern condition of ‘indifference, sadness, and melancholy’. The paper shows how this impulse has emerged over time in his work, tracing the author's move from a reliance on scientific rationality in his early days towards a reliance on irony, emotive metaphor, humor, and excess in his later work. Combined with his deep technical understanding of accounting, the employment of these techniques not only positions Professor Macintosh as a unique contributor to the field of academic accounting; more importantly, it necessarily and crucially undermines the self-confidence of the field's intellectual and manifestly cynical authorities.