Eric W. Orts (University of Pennsylvania – Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department) has postedPeople and Persons in Private Law: From Corporations to Non-Human Biological Entities to Artificial Intelligence (Legal Personhood in Private Law (Christopher Essert, Eva Micheler, and Paul B. Miller eds.), Cambridge University Press. Draft: Feb. 20, 2026) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This chapter argues for a foundational distinction between people and persons in legal theory, philosophy, political theory, and other social science disciplines. The chapter contends that a failure to understand this distinction can lead to confusion in policy making, resulting in problematic interpretations that can then become recalcitrant social realities, such as the view that the legal persons of business corporations should have political or religious rights equivalent to those of individual human beings. A conceptual clarification of the difference between people and persons allows for a greater understanding of how we people-we humans-use the legal designation of “person” and for what purposes. This better understanding, if widely accepted, would lead to better policy decisions regarding the recognition and regulation of different kinds of persons in private law contexts, from business corporations to non-human biological entities to artificial intelligence.