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person1970s-present

Peter French

Disciplines:
ethics
philosophy of action
philosophy/social philosophy

Summary

American philosopher who argued that corporations are genuine moral persons — capable of acting and being held morally responsible — on the basis of their internal decision structures.

Core Contribution

The Corporation as a Moral Person (1979): corporations have a Corporate Internal Decision (CID) structure that transforms individual decisions into corporate actions — making corporations genuine moral agents and persons. Pioneered the philosophical analysis of collective moral responsibility.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • The CID structure argument: when a corporation acts through its policies and procedures rather than any individual's personal interests, it is the corporation — not any individual — that acts, and thus the corporation that can be blamed or praised.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Corporation as a Moral Person

Collective and Corporate Responsibility

The Virtues of Vengeance

Historical Influences

John Rawls

Intellectual Lineage

Analytic Ethics

Contemporaries & Peers

Michael Bratman Margaret Gilbert

Minds Influenced

Business Ethics Corporate Law

Intellectual Posterity

Corporate Moral Responsibility

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Peter French

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