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A review by thewallflower00
How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur
4.0
I had just finished watching The Good Place, which is an excellent show. Then I remembered this guy had just written a book that made the Goodreads nominees. So yes, I will pick it up.
If you read one book about moral philosophy in your lifetime, let it be this one. Basically, everything he learned from writing The Good Place, about philosophy and how we should act in ethical situations, is condensed into this volume. It’s a laymen’s guide to a very complicated topic, translating so us mere mortals can understand it. Plus humor. There aren’t footnotes on every single word. No “we have to define what ‘things’ are”.
It goes over various philosophical quandaries like the “trolley problem“, the “violinist“, being a “happiness pump” and so on. how each of the three major schools of philosophy would tell you how react to moral dilemmas–Aristotlean, kantism, and utilitarianism. Some philosophy purists might say he needs to condense certain parts or expand certain parts. But I think that is not his intended audience. His audience is people like me, who will never pick up a book of German abstract expressionism or a book without a picture on the cover. He’s trying to reach the Eleanor Shellstrops of the world before they get hit by a shopping cart.
I especially loved the chapter on how we can reconcile problematic artists from their art (e.g. Louis C.K., Woody Allen, Dave Chapelle, etc.). Fun fact: he came to the same conclusion that I did, which is that you essentially have to decide for yourself. If you owned the Harry Potter books before Rowling became a TERF, that’s not on the same level of “bad” as going to Harry Potter World and putting more money in J.K. Rowling’s pocket, which is not the same level as being a J.K. Rowling apologist.
Even if the information here wasn’t about an interesting and thick topic, I’d recommend it because this guy is a top-notch writer. He’s worked on three of my favorite recent TV shows (Parks and Rec, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place) and demonstrates he’s not just a yutz in a writer’s room. He thinks about stuff. He’s in this for more than the money–he wants to see humanity thrive. And philosophy is one of those things where A) everyone who came up with these ideas are dead and gone and have no idea how their rules should apply in a world where I have the sum total of human knowledge in my pocket B) has no right answer or even an answer that everyone can agree on. It’s like religion without the mythology. And these are the conclusions Schur provides–counter to the book’s title, no one expects us to be perfect. Just do the best you can. Fail better.
If you read one book about moral philosophy in your lifetime, let it be this one. Basically, everything he learned from writing The Good Place, about philosophy and how we should act in ethical situations, is condensed into this volume. It’s a laymen’s guide to a very complicated topic, translating so us mere mortals can understand it. Plus humor. There aren’t footnotes on every single word. No “we have to define what ‘things’ are”.
It goes over various philosophical quandaries like the “trolley problem“, the “violinist“, being a “happiness pump” and so on. how each of the three major schools of philosophy would tell you how react to moral dilemmas–Aristotlean, kantism, and utilitarianism. Some philosophy purists might say he needs to condense certain parts or expand certain parts. But I think that is not his intended audience. His audience is people like me, who will never pick up a book of German abstract expressionism or a book without a picture on the cover. He’s trying to reach the Eleanor Shellstrops of the world before they get hit by a shopping cart.
I especially loved the chapter on how we can reconcile problematic artists from their art (e.g. Louis C.K., Woody Allen, Dave Chapelle, etc.). Fun fact: he came to the same conclusion that I did, which is that you essentially have to decide for yourself. If you owned the Harry Potter books before Rowling became a TERF, that’s not on the same level of “bad” as going to Harry Potter World and putting more money in J.K. Rowling’s pocket, which is not the same level as being a J.K. Rowling apologist.
Even if the information here wasn’t about an interesting and thick topic, I’d recommend it because this guy is a top-notch writer. He’s worked on three of my favorite recent TV shows (Parks and Rec, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place) and demonstrates he’s not just a yutz in a writer’s room. He thinks about stuff. He’s in this for more than the money–he wants to see humanity thrive. And philosophy is one of those things where A) everyone who came up with these ideas are dead and gone and have no idea how their rules should apply in a world where I have the sum total of human knowledge in my pocket B) has no right answer or even an answer that everyone can agree on. It’s like religion without the mythology. And these are the conclusions Schur provides–counter to the book’s title, no one expects us to be perfect. Just do the best you can. Fail better.