Also, I suspect in reality you have a sliding scale of acceptance, that you would not be morally neutral about killing a stranger on the road and taking their money if you thought you could get away with it. But you certainly won’t accord the stranger the full benefit of your concern, just a partial benefit.
Oh, there are definitely gradations. I probably wouldn’t do this, even if I could get away with it. I don’t care enough about strangers to go out of my way to save them, but neither do I want to kill them. On the other hand, if it was a person I had an active dislike for, I probably would. All of which is basically irrelevant, since it presupposes the incredibly unlikely “if I thought I could get away with it”.
I used to think I thought that way, but then I had some opportunities to casually steal from people I didn’t know (and easily get away with it), but I didn’t. With that said, I pirate things all the time despite believing that doing so frequently harms the content owners a little.
I have taken that precise action against someone who mildly annoyed me. I remember it (and the perceived slight that motivated it), but feel no guilt over it.
Oh, there are definitely gradations. I probably wouldn’t do this, even if I could get away with it. I don’t care enough about strangers to go out of my way to save them, but neither do I want to kill them. On the other hand, if it was a person I had an active dislike for, I probably would. All of which is basically irrelevant, since it presupposes the incredibly unlikely “if I thought I could get away with it”.
I used to think I thought that way, but then I had some opportunities to casually steal from people I didn’t know (and easily get away with it), but I didn’t. With that said, I pirate things all the time despite believing that doing so frequently harms the content owners a little.
I have taken that precise action against someone who mildly annoyed me. I remember it (and the perceived slight that motivated it), but feel no guilt over it.