The Gray Area with Sean Illing Best of: The moral philosophy of The Good Place
Dec 31, 2020
Michael Schur, creator of 'The Good Place' and known for his unique blend of humor with philosophical inquiries, teams up with UCLA moral philosophy professor Pamela Hieronymi, who consulted on the show. They dive into the show's innovative approach to presenting complex ethical dilemmas. Topics range from moral responsibility and empathy to the significance of personal bonds in ethical growth. They discuss how the show makes philosophy accessible, intertwining humor with profound questions about what it means to be a good person in a society influenced by various moral frameworks.
01:44:19
Schur and Hieronymi's First Meeting
- Michael Schur, unsure about moral philosophy, sought guidance from local expert Pamela Hieronymi.
- Hieronymi's initial response to Schur's show idea, about people becoming better, was that it's philosophically impossible.
Can't Try to Be Good?
- Trying to be good suggests lacking good motives. Faking goodness won't cultivate true virtue, as motives aren't muscles strengthened by repetition.
Inspiration for The Good Place
- Schur's show was inspired by his dislike of rule-breakers and the idea that bad actions might not matter. He created a point system to address this.
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Intro
00:00 • 4min
Moral Philosophy and Television: A Complex Dialogue
04:12 • 19min
Navigating Moral Responsibility
23:34 • 14min
Creating Fair Societies Through Equitable Rules
37:06 • 2min
The Bonds of Morality and Redemption
39:05 • 2min
Navigating Morality and Altruism
41:02 • 25min
Exploring the Impact of Social Influence on Moral Reasoning
01:05:59 • 3min
Collective Morality and Personal Growth
01:08:33 • 33min
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Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast
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The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
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After creating and running Parks and Recreation and writing for The Office, Michael Schur decided he wanted to create a sitcom about one of the most fundamental questions of human existence: What does it mean to be a good person? That’s how NBC's The Good Place was born.
Soon into the show’s writing, Schur realized he was in way over his head. The question of human morality is one of the most complicated and hotly contested subjects of all time. He needed someone to help him out. So, he recruited Pamela Hieronymi, a professor at UCLA specializing in the subjects of moral responsibility, psychology, and free will, to join the show as a “consulting philosopher” — surely a first in sitcom history.
I wanted to bring Shur and Hieronymi onto the show because The Good Place should not exist. Moral philosophy is traditionally the stuff of obscure academic journals and undergraduate seminars, not popular television. Yet, three-and-a-half seasons on, The Good Place is not only one of the funniest sitcoms on TV, it has popularized academic philosophy in an unprecedented fashion and put forward its own highly sophisticated moral vision.
This is a conversation about how and why The Good Place exists and what it reflects about The Odd Place in which we actually live. Unlike a lot of conversations about moral philosophy, this one is a lot of fun.
References:
Dylan Matthews' brilliant profile on The Good Place
Dylan Matthews on why he donated his kidney
Book recommendations:
Michael Schur:
Ordinary Vices by Judith N. Shklar
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Pamela Hieronymi:
What We Owe to Each Other by T.M. Scanlon
Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre
Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel
Credits:
Producer/Audio engineer - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma
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