Why does property’s being made up make a difference?
I favor simpler values. Something that’s made up tends not to be simple. Also, I don’t think anything that can’t be experienced can matter. The differences ownership makes in experience are miniscule.
The theft of a book vs. Its purchace has no significant impact on the economy
It’s not noticeable with one book, but that’s not because it’s not there. If nobody bought books, there would be fewer produced. The fact that people are willing to pay for books shows that they’re worth producing.
There are places where this is more obvious, such as medicine, but it applies to books as well.
If you’re selfish, and you only care about the economy insomuch as it affects you, then you would steal (piracy or otherwise) as much as you could get away with. If you’re not selfish, you’d have better things to do with the money, and thus still steal as much as you could get away with.
That said, in either case it would still be best to favor laws that discourage piracy, or possibly find a different way to compensate the owner. It does more good on average, so you’re likely to benefit from it more than be hurt from it.
Can’t I generally justify the instrumental value of actions which damage the economy so long as they enrich me personally?
If you only consider yourself valuable, then actions that enrich you personally are instrumentally valuable.
I favor simpler values. Something that’s made up tends not to be simple. Also, I don’t think anything that can’t be experienced can matter. The differences ownership makes in experience are miniscule.
It’s not noticeable with one book, but that’s not because it’s not there. If nobody bought books, there would be fewer produced. The fact that people are willing to pay for books shows that they’re worth producing.
There are places where this is more obvious, such as medicine, but it applies to books as well.
If you’re selfish, and you only care about the economy insomuch as it affects you, then you would steal (piracy or otherwise) as much as you could get away with. If you’re not selfish, you’d have better things to do with the money, and thus still steal as much as you could get away with.
That said, in either case it would still be best to favor laws that discourage piracy, or possibly find a different way to compensate the owner. It does more good on average, so you’re likely to benefit from it more than be hurt from it.
If you only consider yourself valuable, then actions that enrich you personally are instrumentally valuable.