Editing Utilitarianism (section)

==== Evils of the first and second order ====
The question then arises as to when, if at all, it might be legitimate to [[Breaking the law (legal)|break the law]]. This is considered in ''The Theory of Legislation'', where Bentham distinguishes between evils of the first and second order. The former are more immediate consequences; the latter are consequences spread through the community causing "alarm" and "danger".

<blockquote>It is true there are cases in which, if we confine ourselves to the effects of the first order, the good will have an incontestable preponderance over the evil. Were the offence considered only under this point of view, it would not be easy to assign any good reasons to justify the rigour of the laws. Every thing depends upon the evil of the second order; it is this which gives to such actions the character of crime, and which makes punishment necessary. Let us take, for example, the physical desire of satisfying hunger. Let a beggar, pressed by hunger, steal from a rich man's house a loaf, which perhaps saves him from starving, can it be possible to compare the good which the thief acquires for himself, with the evil which the rich man suffers?... It is not on account of the evil of the first order that it is necessary to erect these actions into offences, but on account of the evil of the second order.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=Jeremy |last2=Dumont |first2=Etienne |last3=Hildreth | first3=R |title=Theory of Legislation: Translated from the French of Etienne Dumont |publisher=Adamant Media Corporation |date=November 2005 |page=58 |isbn=978-1-4021-7034-8}}</ref></blockquote>