Morality of theft?

Question

Who is affected more by stealing, the thief or the person being stole from?

Moral opinions on theft?:

Is it wrong to steal from the rich to give to the poor?
Is it wrong to steal to survive?
Is it wrong to steal just because you can?
Are kleptomaniacs to blame for their own actions?

Also, compared to other crimes how do you rank it?

Answer 1

If someone steals a thing from you, that makes that person a thief and it makes you minus an object.

If you believe in the concept of private property, then it is wrong to steal from anyone.

Everyone has a right to survival. How does that make it ok to steal? It's not right to steal from someone who has food, just because you have none. But I would say the same does not apply if the person who has the food has caused you to have no food.

Yes, of course it's wrong to steal just because you can.

And I'm not going to talk about the kleptomaniac issue because that gets into a question of a mental illness, and whether kleptomaniacs do or do not have control over their behavior. I don't know the answer to that.

Answer 2

There is no morality to theft. Theft hurts both the thief and the person who was stolen from. Theft diminishes the thief by loss of character.
Stealing from the rich to give to the poor, the Gov. does it all the time. Wrong
Stealing to survive, wrong, help is available.
Stealing because you can, very wrong
Kleptomania, a mental disorder and yes they are to blame.
Stealing is a moral defect and a value and ethical system should be in place by age three.

Answer 3

take from the rich and give to the poor - no.
despite the obvious good intention, it is carried out completely the wrong way.

to survive - definately. when it comes to survival, nothing is morally wrong. it's all based on instinct at that point and one cant be held accountable for human nature.

because you can....thats a tough one. nobody steals just because they can. there is always another reason. either they want it and dont want to buy it, cant buy it..maybe for the rush. but if it could possibly ever happen...i'd say yea its wrong

kleptos are to blame, but not in a "hey! you took my stuff!" kinda way. they need help not discipline.
thats my opinion anyways.

Answer 4

Since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and since labor is pain in itself - it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it.

Most people already consider violence and theft to be morally wrong. However, as morality gets more abstract, it gets harder and harder for people to maintain their consistency. Countless are the number of times people have agreed that "theft is wrong," but who then instantly become baffled if someone replies "therefore taxation is wrong."
It’s the same with the military. No one has any trouble with the equation: Man + murder = evil.
Throw in one little inconsequential variable, however, and most people get very confused.
Man + murder + uniform = national hero?

Answer 5

Morality for me is a religious question. The 10 commandments forbid stealing. Yet the only one in the Bible who was promised a place in heaven was a thief.

Answer 6

Honestly I think theft isn't morally uniform amongst the degrees on can commit the act. And the law seems to agree. Taking granny's social security check is far more heinous than helping one's self to an M&M at the self serve snack counter at the grocery store.

Answer 7

who is more affected? in my opinion the thief is as he has to live with the consequences.

is it wrong to steal period? yes it is. i can understand someone stealing to survive, and i have sympathy for them, to a point. but just to steal otherwise is wrong.

yes, kleptomaniacs are responsible for their actions. when we start dissolving people of their responsibility, we take another step down to anarchy.

Answer 8

It is un morel or wrong to steal.

You could argue that property is un morel. As soon as you claim an object as yours you harm every other person by taking away their access to the same object. In short what ever good you gain by possessing the object is more then offset by the harm that you are causing by possessing that same object. From this view point anybody who claims to possess an object is stealing from everybody else.

Answer 9

I like a quote by an obscure philosopher who stated,
"Grub first, then ethics."

If you are starving, it is difficult to worry about the ethics behind an action. Those who have their basic necessities in order can "climb" Maslow's hierarchy of needs and attempt to achieve "self-actualization" through such means as ethics, self-reflection, meditation, etc. But if you don't even have the basics, you focus merely on living through the day.

Answer 10

1 yes 2 let you conscious bee your guide 3 yes 4 everyone responsible for their own action