Physis: A Theory of Power · Chapter 5
Corporate Entities
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Abstract
The corporate entity is not a legal fiction but a new kind born of the symbiosis of human beings and an idea. The chapter sets out the turn from mutual benefit to parasitism, the three properties that separate it from the human, its formula of survival against others, the capital-centered and will-centered subtypes, and the narrowing of the gate through which Nomos enters, from V1 to V4.
Concepts used in this work 8
The corporate entity is not merely a legal fiction but a new kind born of the symbiosis of human beings and an idea. Physis Theory treats the symbiosis, not the idea, as the corporate entity. It begins in mutual benefit and turns parasitic once benefit is cut off from its source.
Rational decision-making, scale of will and indefinite duration set it apart from the human; the absence of Nomos capacity leaves all three unchecked. Of the three conditions of Nomos it carries only death awareness, and only through its people. Its formula of existence is survival against others. That formula feeds the agonistic side of Physis and erodes the affiliative side. The corporate entity is locked into the agonistic side and does not carry its own brake; it reaches Nomos only through its human pole, indirectly and temporarily.
With human beings it stands in a constant tension sustained by mutual dependence; with other corporate entities, in existential conflict. Singularity is its existential aim. What builds scale does not carry it: the agonistic side scales without resistance, while cohesive resilience is the high-friction work of the affiliative side.
Capital-centered and will-centered structures are two subtypes of one kind, divided by whether time-energy can be detached from its bearer. Institutions are shells; revolution changes who holds the channel, not the type. Convergence is the will-centered structure's slide toward the owned structure; the capital-centered structure enters that domain by usurping its form. From V1 to V4, the gate through which Nomos enters narrows and the brake that came through humans is lost. A corporate entity is defeated not by time but by others.