Michael Schur

Michael Shur is the creator of The Good Place, a fantastic TV show, and almost certainly the world's only sitcom about moral philosophy. Unsurprisingly, this is a topic Shur himself is fascinated with, and in this volume he takes us through various approaches philosophers over the millennia have had to the questions of how humans should behave towards each other, what it means to be a good person, and whether you really need to put your shopping cart back where it belongs. Although it should probably be noted that a) it's hardly a comprehensive overview of the entire field of philosophy, b) he concentrates entirely on secular, rather than religious philosophy, and c) the emphasis is on Western philosophy, despite brief discussions of particular Buddhist philosopher and of the African concept of Ubuntu.

The approach here is simple and casual, taking ideas from people who wrote huge, dense, largely unreadable tomes, paring them down to some of their basics, and seeing what seems useful for us ordinary schmoes as we try to navigate this stupid and complicated thing called life without being complete jerks. Shur sees some merit in almost all of the philosophies he considers (Ayn Rand aside) and seems to regard them all as possible tools to pick and choose from in whatever situations they seem most appropriate in. His writing is clear, breezy, humorous, and pleasant, and much more interested in mulling over the questions than trying to dictate any hard and fast answers. I don't think I agreed one hundred percent with all his personal takes, but I find his approach in general very simpatico.

It's worth pointing out, by the way, just in case it's not clear, that the title is very tongue in cheek. This book will not only not teach you how to be perfect and get the answer to every moral question right, it's not even remotely going to try, because Shur recognizes that that's completely impossible, and not really the point, anyway.

Also worth noting is that although he does reference characters and ideas from The Good Place, because that show embodied a lot of the ideas he's discussing here, you don't need to have seen it to read the book. He also manages not to spoil anything from it, either, in case you want to go and watch it afterward. Fans of the show, though, will probably find it especially interesting and a nice little add-on to their viewing experience. If nothing else, having read the sections on Kant, I now completely understand why Chidi has a stomachache all the time.… (meer)

This is a must-read for fans of The Good Place, and a really-should-read for fans of The Office or Parks & Rec.

How to Be Perfect is a distillation of the moral philosophy Mike Schur learned while creating the show The Good Place. I’ve never taken a philosophy course, but who better to present these ideas in a “for dummies” style summary than a long-beloved comedy sitcom writer? I don’t think there’s much other context in which one can laugh out loud repeatedly while learning about Kant.

Get the audiobook, particularly if you’re a Good Place fan, because most of the cast appear on it. But honestly, get the audiobook even if you’re not a Good Place fan, then… become a Good Place fan.… (meer)

Sometimes, The Good Place felt like Philosophy 101 (I say, having never been to a similar class but the viewers definitely learned alongside Eleanor Shellstrop). How to Be Perfect is the equivalent of what Michael Schur learned while plotting and writing the show, though this is less of a Good Place book and more of an ethical overview, with a focus on Aristotelian virtue ethics, utilitarianism, deontology, existentialism and other perspectives that help frame the question: what does it really mean to do good?

Professor Todd May (from my alma mater of Clemson University!) chimes in in the footnotes periodically, and I'm once again ever so curious as to how an audiobook would handle that kind of banter.

This book is decidedly placed in a time period with contemporary examples of Americans failing to take collective action for the benefit of their communities through simple measures during the early years of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic though it's hard to think of a bigger sociological example relevant to now, tbh.… (meer)