Modernism and the Meaning of Corporate Persons

The legal concept of corporate personhood was established in Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886) and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). This volume provides the first interdisciplinary intellectual history of this story, exploring the ambiguity of corporate intention and its impact on American literature and thought. It combines legal analysis with literary interpretation to explore the theories of meaning and authorial intention.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Before the US Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which established the legal fiction of American corporate personhood, the concept had already been developed in Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886). However, granting a non-human entity certain rights raised a fundamental philosophical question about the possibility of collective intention. This question went beyond the realm of law and became central to modern American literature. This volume presents the first comprehensive intellectual history of this narrative of corporate personhood.

The notion that large collective organizations could intend and act like humans, possessing person-like qualities, sparked a diverse range of American writers, artists, and corporate theorists in the early 20th century. This intellectual revolution led to a reevaluation of intention and its role in shaping meaning. The ambiguous status of corporate intention gave rise to conflicting theories regarding the relevance of authorial intention, the interpretation of collective signs and social forms, and these debates continue to shape legal and literary discourse today.

As law grappled with these competing perspectives, modernist creative writers and artists tackled similar questions, albeit through different formal procedures and artistic styles. This volume combines legal analysis of law reviews, treatises, and case law with literary interpretation of short stories, novels, and poems to explore the interplay between legal philosophers and creative writers. Notable legal philosophers examined in this volume include Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Frederic Maitland, Harold Laski, Maurice Wormser, and creative writers such as Theodore Dreiser, Muriel Rukeyser, Gertrude Stein, Charles Reznikoff, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and George Schuyler.

By examining the historical development of corporate personhood and its philosophical implications, this volume sheds light on the complex relationship between law, literature, and collective intention. It provides a valuable contribution to the study of modern American culture and society, exploring the ways in which legal fictions and philosophical questions have shaped the artistic and intellectual landscape of the United States.

Weight: 450g
Dimension: 232 x 156 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192884671