Graduation Year
Spring 2013
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)
Reader 1
Paul Hurley
Terms of Use & License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Rights Information
© 2013 Daniel Shane
Abstract
We seem to hold corporations to an impossible standard. We call for profit maximization, but at the same time want to place strict limits on the methods corporations may use to obtain them. In this thesis, I explore two popular theories of the corporation: stakeholder theory and shareholder theory. I examine the degree to which each theory explains the corporation as it exists today, as defined in the law and through its behavior, but also the theories‘ normative appeal. I conclude by positing what I find to be the best normative account of the corporation: a theory of how we should structure the corporation in the United States so it is the most morally-defensible.
Recommended Citation
Shane, Daniel, "The Modern Day Corporation: A Philosophical Analysis of How Corporations Behave and How They Should Behave" (2013). CMC Senior Theses. 582.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/582
