Essayist: Only happiness is intrinsically valuable; other things are valuable only insofar as they contribute to happiness  Some philosophers argue that the fact that we do not approve of a bad person' s being happy shows that we value happiness only when it is deserved  This supposedly shows that we find something besides happiness to be intrinsically valuable  But the happiness people deserve is determined by the amount of happiness they bring to others
Ttherefore,
the notion that people can be deserving of happiness is ultimately incoherent