Abstract: I propose reading Peter Drucker’s The Practice of Management within a moral and value perfectionist framework, in that the corporation in industrial society takes on a primary role in the non-instrumental formation of its employees as citizens and responsible members of society. I also propose that a primary goal in the formation of workers, through requiring responsibility in each position and creating an environment in which each can excel to his or her best performance, is the creation of positive liberty, as proposed by Isaiah Berlin. Finally I briefly consider Drucker’s view of the ethical relationship of a corporation to society and offer defenses against two critiques of his views.

Peter Drucker, Perfectionism, and Corporate Social Responsibility