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Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
Well, think of it this way.
Assuming the book in question is still under copyright: Whoever put the file online did not have permission or the legal right to share it.
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This is true.
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As such, it's a "fruit of the poisoned tree" situation. Even if you could construct a moral or legal right, you're still supporting an illegal use of a distribution system.
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Not really. Whether or not the poster uses this distribution system is not going to effect the existence of the distribution system. There's no "supporting" going on here. It's not like they're donating money to the guy or anything. The uploader is going to continue uploading, regardless of whether or not the poster downloads from them.
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As to "do you have the right," it's equivalent to owning a vinyl record or a VHS tape; just because you bought the item in one format, when you purchased it no one granted or guaranteed you the right to a free copy in a future format.
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Of course you do, as long as you make it yourself. At least in the US, format-shifting is legal. What you seem to be arguing is that the copyright owner has the right to force you to pay them again every time you want to change the format of the same content. That's probably even less ethical.
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The only reason why you're even contemplating this is basically out of convenience, which IMO is not a particularly strong ethical position.
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Nor does it make it a weak on either. Whether or not one method is more convenient than the other doesn't really make a difference.