> Hayek and others argue for individualism as a basis  
> of social science.   
> Does not the existence of corporate bodies  
> (collectivities) make these   
> ideas inapplicable for modern society? No matter how  
> much the law tries   
> to pretend that they are individuals.  
  
Corporations are collections of individuals. Each  
corporation has a clearly discernible number of  
shareholders, large and small. Each corporation has a  
specific number of individual board members, officers,  
managers, and employees. These persons interact  
according to the explicit terms of (incomplete)  
contracts, some implicit or informal agreements, and  
their individual interests. There is also a component  
of uncertianty that each individual faces, as is  
always the case in any complex system. What else  
exists beyond these individual components? How is a  
corporation greater than the sum of its parts?   
  
Doug Mackenzie