LEV696 The Sefer Hachinuch (Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzvah #538) gives a practical reason for this mitzvah [i.e., the obligation to return lost objects]. Society can exist more cohesively when lost objects are returned. People and society will be more productive economically if lost objects do not remain lost, but are returned to their owners. The Abarbanel (commentary on Deut. 22:1-3) says that the act of returning an object will cause people to feel compassion and consideration for fellow human beings. People will feel better about one another in general, and this feeling will spread to all aspects of man's relationship to man. The Alshich (commentary on Deut. 22:1-3) says that this mitzvah is the actual fulfillment of the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" [this verse]. God commands us to treat our fellow human beings as we would treat ourselves, and the returning of lost objects converts this feeling into action.