Mycroft
Ministry of Serendipity
Most of our morals are carryovers from our tribal ancestry. Those morals were the only way they had of managing the society of that time when resources were difficult to come by.
Let's look at stealing, there are two facets to it. On one hand a tribe only had a certain amount of resources. Particularly in winter. Stealing would deplete those resources. But, on the other hand, tribes of olde were much more based on community, everyone did their bit. So if you stole all of your neighbours food and he went hungry, he would not be strong enough to work/hunt/whatever meaning others would have to pick up that workload.
The same reason behind murder. If you murdered a fellow tribesman, the rest of the tribe would have to pick up that workload to keep things going. This is, incidentally, how law came into being, too.
They didn't come into being, as far as I can see, through morality, but through necessity.
I'm not advocating that such morals are outdated or obsolete, incidentally. Merely detailing the history of law and morality.
Let's look at stealing, there are two facets to it. On one hand a tribe only had a certain amount of resources. Particularly in winter. Stealing would deplete those resources. But, on the other hand, tribes of olde were much more based on community, everyone did their bit. So if you stole all of your neighbours food and he went hungry, he would not be strong enough to work/hunt/whatever meaning others would have to pick up that workload.
The same reason behind murder. If you murdered a fellow tribesman, the rest of the tribe would have to pick up that workload to keep things going. This is, incidentally, how law came into being, too.
They didn't come into being, as far as I can see, through morality, but through necessity.
I'm not advocating that such morals are outdated or obsolete, incidentally. Merely detailing the history of law and morality.