Corporations as persons: Objections to goodpaster's ‘principle of moral projection’
Journal of Business Ethics · 1987 · Volume 6 · Issue 8
Abstract
Goodpaster's ‘principle of moral projection’ is intended to support a program of corporate moral improvement based on an analogy between persons and corporations. In this paper I try to show that the analogy breaks down at a crucial point — namely at the search for amotivefor moral improvement. Further, the analogy may foster a tendency to suppose that corporations, like persons, have intrinsic value. I conclude that the analogy does more harm than good for the following reasons: (a) it distracts from the crucial question, which is, how can we motivate people to shape the institutions in which they work into morally better ones? and (b) it may reinforce a morally dangerous tendency to serve corporations for their own sakes.
Keywords
Economic Growth, Crucial Point, Crucial Question, Moral Improvement, Moral Projection
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