Philosophy
Before oral arguments in the Supreme Court for the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. The Pacific Railroad Company, Chief Justice Morrison Waite famously said,
One can argue that the corporation is an entity distinct from those who make it up. Bill Gates leaves and it's still Microsoft. One can argue that it is the locus of decision making, decisions that might not be identical to anyone within the company. For example, consider a board of directors who are split between three candidates, half love A and hate B, but a re fine but unenthused about candidate C. The other half sees A as a non-started, desperately wants B, but could live with C. In this case, the board might unanimously select a CEO who nobody championed. The board's "mind" is not the same as the members' and it is this board mind that made the decision and therefore is responsible for it. One could argue that corporations act in ways that influence our world. Anything that has a mind and intentionally chooses behaviors that impact others should be thought of as an individual of some sort and have the rights, responsibilities, and protections of an individual.
But do they really? They pay taxes. But they don't have a body. They don't act, it is the people within them who do. They are at best metaphorical individuals and we don't want to grant real rights to metaphorical beings.
So, should corporations be considered people?
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Philosophy
Should Corporations Be Considered People?
Before oral arguments in the Supreme Court for the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. The Pacific Railroad Company, Chief Justice Morrison Waite famously said,
"The Court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."And so it has been that corporations are considered as artificial individuals.
One can argue that the corporation is an entity distinct from those who make it up. Bill Gates leaves and it's still Microsoft. One can argue that it is the locus of decision making, decisions that might not be identical to anyone within the company. For example, consider a board of directors who are split between three candidates, half love A and hate B, but a re fine but unenthused about candidate C. The other half sees A as a non-started, desperately wants B, but could live with C. In this case, the board might unanimously select a CEO who nobody championed. The board's "mind" is not the same as the members' and it is this board mind that made the decision and therefore is responsible for it. One could argue that corporations act in ways that influence our world. Anything that has a mind and intentionally chooses behaviors that impact others should be thought of as an individual of some sort and have the rights, responsibilities, and protections of an individual.
But do they really? They pay taxes. But they don't have a body. They don't act, it is the people within them who do. They are at best metaphorical individuals and we don't want to grant real rights to metaphorical beings.
So, should corporations be considered people?
- Penn State And Corporate Personhood
In response to my post last week on the NCAA's decision to sanction the Penn Sate football program, Gwydion complained that the term "death penalty" ought to be reserved for the real death penalty. Similarly is the compliant I have heard that...
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The Nature Channel has SharkWeek, Philosophers' Playground has Turing Week. Here's one from 2009: The British government has apologized for its treatment of Alan turing, the genius who created the machine that allowed the British to crack the...
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One of the big theoretical questions in business ethics is the metaphysical status of corporations. They make decisions, they have assets, they exist as things...but what kind of things. On the one hand, is the view that a corporation is just shorthand...
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C. Ewing asks, "Is there a difference between moral and ethical? If so, what is it? Why do we make the distinction? Should we? Is it helpful?"I've always found it odd when people say that something has "moral AND ethical ramifications" since I always...
- Institutional Apologies
The British government has apologized for its treatment of Alan turing, the genius who created the machine that allowed the British to crack the German Enigma code during WWII, the most complex that had ever been developed at the time and was considered...