Eighth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal
Monday March 10, 2008
Another of the shorter commandments, this is one of those where the simplest and most obvious understanding may actually be the most correct one - but not necessarily. Most people read it as a simple prohibition against stealing and this is not unreasonable, but it may also not be the way that everyone understood it originally.
Read Article: Analysis of the Eighth Commandment
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The main problem with “thou shalt not steal” is that, like “thou shalt not murder”, it is empty. Stealing is the wrongful taking of property, just as murder is wrongful killing. The claim that “thou shalt not take property that thou shalt not take” (or “thou shalt not kill those who thou shalt not kill”) is vacuously circular. They don’t say anything.
We have already know what stealing and murder is before we can give any meaning to these commandments.
The main difference between the two statements, however, is definition. Whereas “steal” means (loosely) “take something that does not belong to you”, “murder” is an exclusively legal term for the unlawful killing of one person by another person. So, while “Thou shalt not unlawfully kill someone” is redundant, “Thou shalt not take something that does not belong to you” is less so.
Of course, though, even if “Thou shalt not murder” is translated as “Thou shalt not kill”, it is still unworkable; every day, each individual person kills countless bacteria without even intending to. Not to mention that even vegetarians need to kill to survive.
No, Alonzo is correct that “stealing” is an empty phrase. It’s not “taking something that doesn’t belong to you”. There are times when it’s perfectly permissible. You’re not stealing when you pick up a book in the bookstore before paying for it. If someone drops an item into your pocket and you unknowingly walk out of the store with it, it’s not stealing.
Bah, I knew I forgot something in my definition. The main thrust of my argument, though, was that while “murder” is an entirely legal term, “steal” is not, and prohibitions against legal terms that are prohibited by definition are redundant.