Why Is Stealing Wrong

A theft problem has raised many questions from this common philosophical problem. To steal of not to steal, can it be justified. For an object to be considered stolen it must be worth value to another person, taken without consent, and taken without anything in return. The value doesn’t have to be in a way of monetary form either. If you leave something behind, is this still a form of stealing. From a merely legal perspective, theft is crime that is punishable because it is a criminal offense and is against the civic and natural law. From a moral perspective, Aristotle and Locke would both argue stealing is not permissible because it is not generous, virtuous or good. A thief is driven to provide for himself from other sources, which

This is because theft does not achieve happiness, generosity or fulfill the human good. According to Aristotle, the human good comes to be disclosed as a being-at-work of the soul in accordance with virtue (Aristotle, 1098a16). In other words, one must work hard and practice what they intend to achieve in order to be successful. Theft skips the step of working hard. Thus, stealing is a form of laziness that someone may resort to who does not want to put in the work to rightfully obtain something with value. Once success has been achieved, one can fulfill happiness. By stealing, one is not in a state of being-at-work because they are participating in an action that is morally wrong. If doing good is virtuous and stealing is wrong, stealing therefore, cannot be virtuous and a happy person does not steal. Additionally, Aristotle’s discussion of generosity makes a thief less virtuous and good. The person who will use wealth best is the one who has the virtue that is connected with money, and this is a generous person (Aristotle, 1120a10). A thief does not use wealth best because he chooses to not pay for what he steals, thus a thief is not a generous person. It is more characteristic of virtue to act well than to be acted upon well, and to do beautiful things rather than shameful ones (Aristotle, 1120a15). Therefore, stealing is a shameful act because Aristotle says it is not a beautiful thing. So a thief is not virtuous, not good and not generous. A thief is a wasteful person who takes from where they ought not to (Aristotle, 1120a30). This is important because people who are generous, do good and are virtuous, can provide for themselves and not depend on others’ labor. Aristotle’s claim about the ultimate good and happiness support that stealing is not acceptable, even if it is for a good reason, because stealing is an