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Is Stealing Considered Ethical?

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Is stealing considered ethical? According to Carol Gilligan, stealing may be the right thing to do if and when the scenario is right (Feminine Ethics: Ethics of Care). So what makes a situation suitable for stealing? Well that depends on a lot of things. First and most importantly though is the care involved. Carol Gilligan (2011) explains, “An ethics of care directs our attention to the need for responsiveness in relationships (paying attention, listening, responding) and to the costs of losing connection with oneself or with others. Its logic is inductive, contextual, psychological, rather than deductive or mathematical.” In other words, caring is ultimately about others, learning to put them first and emphasizing the relationships between friends and family. To do so, one must comprehend the following: understanding what stage of morality a person is going through, how they are care for others, the leadership roles that one possesses, how society and culture impact the development of the individual and the emphasis gender has on morality is also important in determining whether stealing is right or wrong. Identifying these things will help to better understand the ethical issues that follow and the theory used to describe it.
Using the three levels found in the ethics of care, one can determine whether or not stealing is appropriate. During stage one, orientation to individual survival is the main focus. This means that the interest is in one’s own self. Moving on, level

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