Stealing

Kantian Ethics regarding Stealing

• Kant’s Categorical Imperative: Stealing would be deemed immoral as it cannot be universalised. If everyone were to steal, the concept of property rights would be nullified.
• Kant’s Second Formulation: Acts of stealing treat others merely as means to an end, rather than ends in themselves - a violation of Kant’s ethics.
• Duty and Good Will: Kantian ethics emphasises duties, stealing goes against ones duty not to harm others or their property.

Utilitarianism and Stealing

• Greatest Happiness Principle: Any act, including stealing, would be considered immoral unless it maximises overall happiness.
• Act Utilitarianism: In some cases, stealing could be justified (if the benefits outweighed the harm), though this is highly context-dependent.
• Rule Utilitarianism: However, rule Utilitarians might argue that a general rule against stealing creates more overall happiness.

Virtue Ethics on Stealing

• Character Traits: Virtue ethics emphasise the cultivation of good character. As stealing involves dishonesty, it is not in line with virtuous character traits.
• Cultivation of Virtue: From Aristotle’s viewpoint, virtues are habits that we acquire through repeated action, hence consistently acting dishonestly (by stealing) impedes the development of virtue.

Religious Approaches to Stealing

• Christian Ethics: The Ten Commandments explicitly prohibits stealing (“Thou shalt not steal”), emphasising respect for others’ property.
• Islam and Stealing: In Islam, one of the major sins is theft, underscored by severe punishments under Sharia law.

Consequentialism and Stealing

• Greatest Overall Positive Outcomes: Stealing would be deemed wrong unless it resulted in greater overall positive outcomes. Rare circumstances may make stealing the ‘lesser of two evils’.
• Harm Principle: John Stuart Mill’s Harm Principle precludes stealing because, typically, it causes harm to others.

Ethics of Care Perspective on Stealing

• Relationships and Caring Responsibilities: The Ethics of Care perspective emphasises interpersonal relationships. Stealing can be detrimental to relationships and trust building.
• Context-Dependent Consideration: Like utilitarianism, the ethics of care approach could conceivably justify stealing in extreme cases (e.g., stealing food to feed a starving child). However, this is context dependent.