Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism Utilitarianism as a whole is considered to be any moral theory corresponding to which an action is right if and only if it conforms to the principle of utility, or productiveness. Utilitarianism represents an extension into moral theory of an experimental, scientific mode of reasoning because it involves the calculation of causal consequences. According to Bentham, an action conforms to the principle of utility if and only if its performance will be more productive …

…considered a misdemeanor. It disagrees in that if it were a car that was stolen, there would be greater consequences, a felony crime. In that sense, that's where act-utilitarianism comes in to play. In other words though stealing the gum and stealing the car are both crimes and are both wrong and both considered stealing, the value of the car is far greater than the value of the gum, and thus, the punishment is greater.