[Quality_Not_Quantity]

if your morality is based, as mine is, on a desire to increase the sum of happiness...

And therein lies the rub.

[rightwingcrazy]

“if your morality is based, as mine is, on a desire to increase the sum of happiness...”

And therein lies his dogma, and thus his religion. Doesn’t bother defining “happiness”, or how you go about determining the “sum” of it, or why we should concern ourselves with it. Why does the universe care whether we’re happy or not? If not, why should we?

[Ouchthatonehurt]

“if your morality is based, as mine is, on a desire to increase the sum of happiness...”

Whose happiness?
You could, in fact, argue that Downes individuals do make society by and large happier.