>What evidence are you using to claim that laws against 'stealing' are one of the basic laws of society? Maat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat#42_Negative_

>What evidence are you using to claim that laws against 'stealing' are one of the basic laws of society? Maat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat#42_Negative_Confessions_.28Papyrus_of_Ani.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat#42_Negative_Confessions_.... >42 Negative Confessions (Papyrus of Ani)[edit] >1. I have not committed sin. >2. I have not committed robbery with violence. >3. I have not stolen. >4. I have not slain men and women. >5. I have not stolen grain. Babylonian Law: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp >8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death. >9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of another: if the person in whose possession the thing is found say "A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses," and if the owner of the thing say, "I will bring witnesses who know my property," then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witnesses who can identify his property. The judge shall examine their testimony--both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant. Ancient Greek Law: http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/brutal-draconian-laws-ancient-greece-002344 http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/brutal-draconian-laws... >Plutarch, another ancient source for Draco, in his Life of Solon , claims that the penalty for the theft of an apple or a cabbage was death, and you could have someone made your personal slave if they owed you money. The writer also records that when Draco was asked the reason for making execution the punishment for most offences, the reply was that ‘Small ones deserve that (i.e. death), and I have no higher for the greater crimes.’ Biblical Law: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A1%E2%80%9317&version=NRSV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A1%E... >15 You shall not steal. And pre-agricultural societies that we have accounts of universally prohibit theft as well. For example Australian Aborigine: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1124&context=ltc http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1124&contex... >The process of the law was one of political negotiation that involved everyone in the community. When there was a dispute, the elders met to discuss the punishments: their word was LAW. Offences regarded as unlawful included the unauthorised killing of a person, sacrilege, incest, adultery, theft, unauthorised assault, insult and neglect of kinship obligations. Punishments could range from making compensation over an agreed period of time to having to face a squad of spearmen, with only a shield and that person's ability to protect himself. The reason laws against theft are universally found is that theft creates harmful incentives. It doesn't matter what stage of civilization we reach: the fundamental dynamics of multiple parties co-existing make theft harmful to creating economic value. This is something I would argue is self-evident. Not sure why you're so desperate to question the moral principle that theft is wrong. >I just think we can imagine something better. Moral principles are timeless. There is nothing "better" than not stealing, because it is a basic requirement for a functioning society. The only type of configuration better than 'not stealing' is 'not stealing' + doing something good. But not stealing, murdering, assaulting etc are the foundational principles that a functioning society has to build on top of.