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Corporate Moral Responsibility
Author(s) -
Sepinwall Amy J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
philosophy compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.973
H-Index - 25
ISSN - 1747-9991
DOI - 10.1111/phc3.12293
Subject(s) - blame , harm , moral agency , agency (philosophy) , corporation , moral responsibility , law and economics , focus (optics) , political science , moral disengagement , attribution , sociology , public relations , epistemology , business , law , social psychology , psychology , philosophy , physics , optics
This essay provides a critical overview of the debate about corporate moral responsibility (CMR). Parties to the debate address whether corporations are the kinds of entities that can be blamed when they cause unjustified harm. Proponents of CMR argue that corporations satisfy the conditions for moral agency and so they are fit for blame. Their opponents respond that corporations lack one or more of the capacities necessary for moral agency. I review the arguments on both sides and conclude ultimately that what divides the two is not so much competing conceptions of the corporation as it is disagreement about what moral agency requires. Homing in on the real site of contention will, it is hoped, allow future participants in the debate to focus their efforts more productively.