Since good secure more happiness, we should live good.

I will now proceed to rebut the opposing arguments and present my own arguments regarding the topic. Rebuttal The opposing side has argued that more happiness than unhappiness occurs when good deeds are performed. However, they have failed to substantiate their claim and merely stated it as if it were a fact. I will now present a couple of hypotheticals in order to disprove their case. I will admit that hypothetical situations are a weak way of substantiating my own argument, however in a debate involving such abstract concepts, it is difficult to provide actual evidence. 1) Imagine a person with a terminally ill pet dog. The moral choice is to console and assist the dog in their dying breaths. It is naturally what is considered the morally correct. Generally, the logic behind this act is that we should aim to provide any type of consolation to those who are ultimately meeting their demise. However, it is not guaranteed that consoling and looking after the dog will bring it happiness. In contrast, it would likely engender a tremendous amount of grief to the owner. Therefore, I propose that this situation which is deemed morally correct actually does cause more grief and suffering than happiness. 2) Let us now question the morality of of stealing from the wealthy to give to the middle class. Various polls I found online had a majority of people asserting that stealing from the rich to give to the poor is ethically incorrect. [1] [2] However, instead of stealing from the wealthy to give to the poor, what would happen if we instead gave to the middle class? It is logical to conclude that more people would find it immoral than the above example to give to the poor. However, I believe that this immoral action would provide people with a greater amount of happiness. This is because a person who is wealthy would value a certain amount of money less than someone who does not have as much money. For example, $10000 may seem like a paltry sum to someone with billions of dollars, but to someone from the middle class, it would be a significant and influential amount of money. So, I am asserting that what is deemed morally incorrect by society may engender happiness. Argument Your whole argument is predicated upon the idea that we should do anything we can to achieve happiness. You assert through your opening statement that we should live ethically because it "secure[s] more happiness". In doing so, you suggest that we should be good not for the sake of morality, but for the sake of happiness. It seems to me like you are taking a utilitarian perspective. You suggest that we should perform an act when there is more happiness than unhappiness. However, I am not entirely certain of this because you have provided vague statements and have not elaborated upon your point of view. Anyway, this perspective is a dangerous one as it ignores the aspect of justice. Here is a criticism from H. J. McCloskey: Suppose that a sheriff were faced with the choice either of framing a Negro for a rape that had aroused hostility to the Negroes (a particular Negro generally being believed to be guilty but whom the sheriff knows not to be guilty) and thus preventing serious anti-Negro riots which would probably lead to some loss of life and increased hatred of each other by whites and Negroes or of hunting for the guilty person and thereby allowing the anti-Negro riots to occur, while doing the best he can to combat them. In such a case the sheriff, if he were an extreme utilitarian, would appear to be committed to framing the Negro. [3] Forgive me if I am misinterpreting your stance on the matter, but your title heavily implies that happiness is a reason to perform certain actions. Although I agree to an extent that we must all aim to be good people, I disagree with the reasoning presented by the opposing side. I do not however agree with the notion that our lives should always be dominated by the need to be good. I will further explore substantiate my standpoint in the next few rounds. Sources [1] http://www.escapistmagazine.com... [2] http://www.debate.org... [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org...