Quote:
Originally Posted by kennyc
Why not? What do you see as the difference? Do you feel it's okay to take apples from your neighbors tree? What if the apples fall into your yard?
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My examples were the difference between stealing physical goods (e.g. a CD), and making an illegal copy (e.g. copying a CD). I don't feel that the latter is the same kind of thing, or nearly as bad, as the former. Stealing an apple from a neighbour is stealing physical goods, so I see that as a form of stealing, albeit one that I don't think is a particularly bad one because apples tend to be low value, there are usually more than you need etc. If someone stole apples from my apples trees, I would be more annoyed because they didn't ask nicely, than bothered about the apples.
Morality is essentially based on "how would you like it?" - which is typically how we teach it to children. How would I like it if I ran a shop and someone stole the goods in it? I wouldn't like it at all - and this is what makes me see it as bad. How would I like it if I created something and people copied it without paying me? It wouldn't be nearly as bad. I've experienced both, so I feel pretty confident about that!
When I do create something of value, I think hard about how to make it high quality, convenient to buy and use, and how to price it so that people will feel that it's fair to pay for it.