ABSTRACT
Considerations of ‘corporation’ yield an intimate connection with the question of soul, or psyche, and reveal a split between juristic and reality based definitions. The different examples of the East India Company and the Indian srenis illustrate the incorporation of founding spirit into corporations and the Roman definition shows the philosophical roots of the spirit of corporations in stoicism and its relevance for Roman organizations. The reality based perspective is thereby supported. It is argued that this approach has been applied at the national level, by reference to the founding documents of the United States. Based on these premises a working definition of ‘corporation’ is then given. Questions concerning the divergence of practice from the founding spirit are then posed based on the given definition and the fundamental challenge and opportunity for Jungian coaching is noted.
