Definition:

Actions are right if they increase pleasure and reduce pain, and wrong if they increase pain and reduce pleasure.Absolute concepts of right and wrong, based on divine judgment, are nonsense; actions should only be judged by their earthly consequences.


Supporters:

Jeremy Bentham,who is now stuffed and resides in a glass case at the University of London, regarded religious people as hypocrites: they dress up their own likes as divine precepts, and their dislikes as divine prohibitions. In his time Bentham was despised by respectable people. But, while his stern atheism remains unpopular, his morality largely prevails: moral decisions are now mainly made according to the likely sums of pleasure and pain.

Pro:

Since we mostly make choices on utilitarian principles, it's best to be honest about it.
It avoids arguments about God's views on right and wrong---which no one can know.

Cons:

Most people cling to the nation that some pleasure are higher than others. Isn't the pleasure of listening to Mozart superior to that of eating a chocolate bar?
It's often hard to anticipate the likely consequences of an action; and, besides, there often isn't time. For this reason "rule utilitarianism" has been invented, consisting of rules that, if followed, usually maximise pleasure and minimise pain. These rules---- don't lie, don't steal, be nice to neighbors----- look suspiciously like old-fashioned morals.

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"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."

---Ingrid Bergman