Law Commons^™

The Corporate Common Good: The Right And Obligation Of Managers To Do Good To Others, Edward Lyons

Edward C. Lyons

In this Article we articulate a model of managerial freedom - and even obligation - to engage in philanthropic activity differing in significant respects from that described by Germain Grisez in his influential work of Christian ethics "The Way of the Lord Jesus: Difficult Moral Questions." We argue that Grisez's conception of a corporation as essentially ordered to the economic benefit of its stakeholders unnecessarily restricts a corporate manager's freedom of action. While Grisez denies that bald profit maximization is an appropriate standard for economic activity, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he eventually falls back into what …