Moral Agency in Charities and Business Corporations: Exploring the Constraints of Law and Regulation
Journal of Business Ethics 159 (1):59-73 (2019)
Abstract
For centuries in the UK and elsewhere, charities have been widely regarded as admirable and virtuous organisations. Business corporations, by contrast, have been characterised in the popular imagination as entities that lack a capacity for moral judgement. Drawing on the philosophical literature on the moral agency of organisations, we examine how the law shapes the ability of charities and business corporations headquartered in England to exercise moral agency. Paradoxically, we find that charities are legally constrained in exercising moral agency in ways in which business corporations are not. Implications for charities and business corporations are then explored.DOI
10.1007/s10551-017-3750-9
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Citations of this work
Rethinking Corporate Agency in Business, Philosophy, and Law.Samuel Mansell, John Ferguson, David Gindis & Avia Pasternak - 2019 - Journal of Business Ethics 154 (4):893-899.
To Be or Not to Be Governed Like That? Harmful and/or Offensive Advertising Complaints in the United Kingdom’s (Self-) Regulatory Context.Kristina Auxtova, Mary Brennan & Stephen Dunne - 2021 - Journal of Business Ethics 172 (3):425-446.
References found in this work
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Responsibility Incorporated.Philip Pettit - 2007 - Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy 38 (2):90-117.
Debunking Corporate Moral Responsibility.Manuel Velasquez - 2003 - Business Ethics Quarterly 13 (4):531-562.