Applied ethics - STEALING Flashcards
what is stealing?
(well, its pretty obvious but in a philosophical sense: )
stealing is to violate someone’s property rights
what would an act utilitarian say about stealing? generally. relating to the theory
act utilitarianism does not rule out any action based on the type of action
it depends on the situation.
The view of act utilitarianism is that we should choose actions based whether they would produce the greatest happiness or not.
give an example where act utilitarianism may say it is right to steal
stealing a gun intended for murder
stealing money to give to the poor
what is a potential problem with act utilitarianisms approach to stealing which rule utilitarianism aims to fix
However, a society in which stealing was permitted whenever it increased happiness could indirectly lead to greater unhappiness.
People would become afraid that others will steal from them whenever the thief convinced himself that it would bring about greater happiness. In such a society people would cease to trust each other, and so overall, the act-utilitarian approach to stealing would diminish happiness.
what does rule utilitarianism say about stealing
(to prevent a generally unhappier society because of distrust between people if people were allowed to steal whenever they thought it would benefit them- act UT)
Rule utilitarianism, may for this reason suggest there should be a rule ‘don’t steal’.
what does Mill say about stealing
Mill recognises the importance of property rights and the importance of rights to feel secure.
Mill comments that justice is the ‘most sacred and binding part of all morality’. This suggests that we should never violate someone’s rights for some other purpose
what does Kant say about stealing? (first categorical imperative)
If I will stealing to be a universal law, then anyone could steal whenever they wanted
But if anyone could steal whenever they wanted, the very concept of personal property wouldn’t exist
Therefore, willing that “I want to steal this thing” leads to a contradiction in conception
Therefore, stealing violates the categorical imperative
Therefore, stealing is wrong
what does Kant say about stealing (second categorical imperative)
stealing from someone involves not allowing someone to make an informed choice to give away their property away.
what is Kant’s first formulation of the categorical imperative
“act only according to maxims you can will would become a universal law“
What is the seconf formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative?
“Act in such a way that you always treat humanity […] never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.”
humanity formula
what does aristotle say about stealing
Aristotle says there are some actions that never fall within the golden mean – and stealing is one of them.
According to Aristotle, stealing is an injustice because it deprives a person what is justly and fairly theirs.
Why does Aristotle believe stealing is wrong?
Aristotle distinguishes between unjust actions and unjust states of affairs.
A starving child may very well be an unjust state of affairs – an unfortunate situation – but that’s just the way the world is sometimes.
According to Aristotle, it is much worse to deliberately and freely choose to commit unjust actions – even if you are committing these unjust actions to counteract unjust states of affair
damn
