1. Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk
Stealing
Michael Lacewing
© Michael Lacewing

2. Stealing
Steal: to take someone else’s property with no intention of returning it and without their permission (or without the legal right to do so)
To own property involves a system of rights
We are free to use our property, but others are not
Stealing is a matter of justice, what we are ‘owed’ by right
So assume that stealing is wrong – but always?
© Michael Lacewing

3. Utilitarianism
Act utilitarianism: an action is right if it maximises happiness, and wrong if it does not
So if stealing, on some occasion, creates greater happiness than not stealing, then it is morally right on that occasion.
Usually, it causes greater unhappiness, so usually, it is wrong.
Stealing in dire need, esp. from someone wealthy
Robin Hood: stealing back property that was unjustly taken
Stealing to prevent harm
© Michael Lacewing

4. Utilitarianism
A society in which people stealing was permitted whenever it increased happiness could indirectly lead to greater unhappiness
Lack of trust
Mill: justice is ‘most sacred and binding part of all morality’
So don’t violate people’s rights for some other purpose
But what about previous examples?
© Michael Lacewing

5. Rule utilitarianism
An action is right if, and only if, it complies with those rules which, if everybody followed them, would lead to the greatest happiness (compared to any other set of rules).
Should we have rules allowing property in the first place?
This is irrelevant to whether stealing is right, since stealing presupposes that property exists
That a world without property would be happier doesn’t justify stealing
Should the rule be ‘Do not steal’ or more complicated, allowing exceptions?
© Michael Lacewing

6. Kantian deontology
‘Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law’
Stealing can only be the right thing to do if everyone could do it.
If everyone stole whatever they wanted, property rights would disappear, so it would be impossible to steal
‘To steal what I want’ cannot be universalised
So stealing is wrong
© Michael Lacewing

7. Kantian deontology
Can some maxims involving stealing be universalised, e.g. ‘To steal to save a life’?
Still involves stealing, so wrong?
‘To save a life, even if by stealing’ – the kind of action is saving a life
‘Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end’
Stealing involves not allowing someone to make an informed choice (just ask them)
© Michael Lacewing

8. Aristotelian virtue ethics
Stealing concerns justice, and Aristotle understands justice in deontological terms
Stealing is never in the mean
What about stealing in an unjust situation?
It depends how the unjust situation came about
If it is not the result of unjust action, but simply unfortunate, stealing is hard to justify, since it is an unjust action (which is worse)
If the situation is the result of unjust action, then perhaps stealing is ‘justice in rectification’
Can stealing be ‘in the mean’, e.g. when not trying to deprive anyone of their fair share?
© Michael Lacewing

9. A final thought Property rights are not absolute
I can’t do anything I want with my property, e.g. I can’t start a fire with my books inside a cinema, I can’t withhold tax…
To steal from someone, they must legitimately own what you steal
If the laws of property are not just, then is stealing unjust?
© Michael Lacewing