How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question is a book by acclaimed sitcom writer Mike Schur. I loved Schur's work on Parks and Rec and The Good Place, the show that really got me switched back on to philosophy. I had studied Anthropology at university but have always had an interest in the human condition, the reason why we are here and all the other light fluffy stuff that makes me such a great conversationalist at parties. However, the idea of reading thousands of years of philosophy and ethics is daunting so, as well as reading some books recently by Ernest Becker, Rumi and Noam Chomsky to get myself caught up, it's wonderful to have a distillation of thousands of years of moral philosophy and ethics in one handy tome. What made it more appealing was the idea that with Schur you knew it was going to be funny but also inherently humanist, like his sitcom work and indeed it proved to be so.
Schur uses his wordplay and storytelling skills to entertain all the while explaining the complex world of philosophy and the thoughts of great thinkers including Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mills and T. M. Scanlon, as well as the not so great thinkers like Ayn Rand and right wing Libertarians. He also explains, in approachable layman's terms, concepts like Utilitarianism, Deontology, Existentialism, Humanism and Contractualism.
All through the book, Schur presents us with moral quandaries and then uses each philosophical school to explain how they would deal with the issue. Some of these issues are absolutely real world and important such as 'Should I consume the media produced by a terrible person?' whilst others are more more ethical questions which won't rock the world but are probably questions you've asked yourself like 'Should I return my shopping trolley when I've used it? (Even though I'm in the car park and the trolley park is wayyy over there).
Schur also looks at several concepts and methods which some people utilise to help justify their actions in the world such as the idea of moral credit, whereby doing good builds up points to offset the bad deeds. I’ve recently learned that Jimmy Saville believed in, which is why he did so much charity work whilst abusing children, so it’s probably not a concept you want to stick with. Schur also examines the way people apologise and how it has now become seen as a sign of weakness to apologise sincerely without the 'I'm sorry if you're offended' non-apology. He believes that an apology should be sincere and honest rather than forced and performative and I agree. What use is a false apology?
Overall, I really enjoyed the book as Schur doesn't judge and he also considers his privilege. He discusses how people's life choices, chances and just plain dumb luck affect our philosophical bent. As he says, he has been dealt the 'easy' mode with his life as regards his race, gender, upbringing and education so its refreshing to hear someone is such a privileged position speak about this-often many present it as 'Hard work' and 'effort' which it is to an extent but a nod to the privileges should be noted. He gives the example of Michael Jordan who is rightly so a legend, but also he is 6 foot 5, was born in America to supportive parents and didn't have to worry about food, floods, famine etc. affecting his life whereas someone in another country might.
Schur ends the book with a coda to his own two children where he briefly talks about how life is challenging but the best we can do is our, well best. By using the moral philosophy tools available to us and looking at scenarios through various ways we can make an informed decision about what type of person we want to be in a society made up of nearly 8 billion people. The Greeks said it best with "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess" and it's pretty spot on.
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