Book contents
- Reviews
- Corporate Responsibility for Wealth Creation and Human Rights
- Corporate Responsibility for Wealth Creation and Human Rights
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures, Tables and Boxes
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction and Overview
- 2 The Context of Globalization, Sustainability and Financialization
- Part I Wealth Creation
- Part II Human Rights as Public Goods in Wealth Creation
- Part III Implications of Wealth Creation and Human Rights for Corporate Responsibility
- 15 The Ethics of Business Organizations Is Called Corporate Responsibility
- 16 The Moral Status of the Business Organization
- 17 Mapping Corporate Responsibilities
- 18 Corporate Governance for Wealth Creation and Human Rights
- 19 A Case in Point: Corporate Responsibility for Less Income Inequality
- 20 A Case in Point: How Can Universities Promote Corporate Responsibility in Their Supply Chains? The Experience of the University of Notre Dame
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
16 - The Moral Status of the Business Organization
from Part III - Implications of Wealth Creation and Human Rights for Corporate Responsibility
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2021
- Reviews
- Corporate Responsibility for Wealth Creation and Human Rights
- Corporate Responsibility for Wealth Creation and Human Rights
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures, Tables and Boxes
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction and Overview
- 2 The Context of Globalization, Sustainability and Financialization
- Part I Wealth Creation
- Part II Human Rights as Public Goods in Wealth Creation
- Part III Implications of Wealth Creation and Human Rights for Corporate Responsibility
- 15 The Ethics of Business Organizations Is Called Corporate Responsibility
- 16 The Moral Status of the Business Organization
- 17 Mapping Corporate Responsibilities
- 18 Corporate Governance for Wealth Creation and Human Rights
- 19 A Case in Point: Corporate Responsibility for Less Income Inequality
- 20 A Case in Point: How Can Universities Promote Corporate Responsibility in Their Supply Chains? The Experience of the University of Notre Dame
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
Summary
To hold a business organization responsible in an ethical sense is only possible if the organization can be characterized as a “moral actor.” The chapter discusses this meta-ethical question of great theoretical and practical importance. After a short view on the immense world of business organizations and a historic perspective on corporate responsibility, James Coleman’s sociological definition of the business organization as a “corporate actor” is introduced, which provides the socio-economic basis for attributing moral agency to free-standing formal corporations. Three necessary conditions for moral agency are elaborated: (1) the ability to intend an action; (2) the ability to carry out an intentional action; and (3) the ability to choose an intentional action autonomously. In an analogous sense, these three conditions are applied to business organizations to the extent they are corporate actors. To conclude, the chapter dispels some common misconceptions of moral agency of corporate actors.
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- Corporate Responsibility for Wealth Creation and Human Rights , pp. 178 - 188Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021