Do Corporations Deserve Moral Consideration?

Publication Date

10-8-2025

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Acta Analytica

Volume

40

Issue

4

DOI

10.1007/s12136-025-00651-5

First Page

581

Last Page

598

Abstract

In this paper, I examine Kenneth Silver’s (Journal of Business Ethics, 159, 253-265, 2019) defense of the claim that it is possible to attribute moral standing to corporations because they are sentient. I argue that corporations have moral standing, but not in virtue of being sentient. Following others in the philosophy of mind and the theory of wellbeing, I argue that consciousness is not normatively significant in the way that sentience theorists claim; sentience is not necessary for moral standing. Instead, I argue that computational intelligence tied to preferences is the ground of moral standing. Corporations are intelligent systems with preferences, and therefore, corporations deserve moral standing.

Department

Philosophy

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