The Corporation as Trinity

40 Pages Posted: 6 Jul 2022

See all articles by David A. Skeel

David A. Skeel

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: June 27, 2022

Abstract

In “Corporate Capitalism and ‘The City of God'", Adolf Berle references Augustine’s theological classic The City of God in service of his contention that corporate managers have a social responsibility. In this Article, I turn to another work by Augustine, The Trinity, for insights into another feature the corporation, corporate personhood. The Trinity explicates the Christian belief that God is both three and one. I argue that corporations have analogously Trinitarian qualities. Much as theologically orthodox Christians understand God to be both one and three, I argue that corporations are best seen as both a single entity and through the lens of their individual managers and shareholders. Part I explores the debate over corporate personhood that was prompted by the Citizen United and Hobby Lobby cases. Part II develops the Trinitarian account of the corporation. After outlining the Trinitarian perspective on corporate personhood, Part III explores its implications for a variety of issues, including the personhood of 'closely held' corporations, whether noncorporate entities have personhood, and whether a corporation can have a religious identity. The final section returns to Berle to discuss the current debate over corporate political involvement.

Keywords: Corporate personhood, stakeholder governance, theory of the firm, Augustine, De Trinitate, law & religion, First Amendment, free exercise clause, religious identity, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., Citizens United v. Fed. Election Comm’n

JEL Classification: G34, K22, M14

Suggested Citation

Skeel, David A., The Corporation as Trinity (June 27, 2022). U of Penn, Inst for Law & Econ Research Paper No. 22-28, Seattle University Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4154720

David A. Skeel (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School ( email )

3501 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
215-573-9859 (Phone)
215-573-2025 (Fax)

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
248
Abstract Views
940
Rank
245,261
PlumX Metrics