Can philosophy make us better people? The award-winning comedy-writer Michael Schur has published a brilliant new book with a very big claim: “the correct answer to every moral question”.
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‘The correct answer to every moral question’
Can philosophy make us better people? The award-winning comedy-writer Michael Schur has published a brilliant new book with a very big claim: "the correct answer to every moral question".
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Some questions have troubled us for generations. If you have promised to lend your favourite sword to a colleague, but they have since gone dangerously mad, are you morally bound to keep your promise? If a murderer comes to your house looking for your best friend, is it moral to lie to them about where she is?
Now one man claims to have all the answers. Not a philosopher, not a scientist, but a comedy writer. Michael Schur hardly seems like a modern Plato: his previous credits include sitcoms The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation.
But he has done a great deal to popularise moral philosophy through his hit TV series The Good Place, which explored the ideas of great thinkers on how to lead a good life.
And in his latest book, How to Be Perfect, he argues we can use philosophy to be better people.
There are three major schools in Western moral philosophy: consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. And all have different answers.
Consequentialists believe the outcomes of our actions define whether or not they are morally good. The most influential kind of consequentialism is utilitarianism, which argues that we must try to maximise pleasure and minimise pain.
Deontologists believe to live morally, we must obey certain universal rules. The most essential rule is always to treat others as ends, rather than as means.
Finally, virtue ethicists think the solution must be found long before you even get to the lever. They believe we should develop the right kind of personality: kind, generous, courageous. Then, when we have an ethical dilemma, we will know what to do.
Ancient Chinese philosophy proposed a different approach: role ethics. Confucius argued that we lead a morally good life by carrying out our role in the community.
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Can philosophy tell us?
Yes: We are the heirs to thousands of years of thinking about difficult ethical questions. We should use these tested, timeless ideas to make the right decisions in our own lives.
No: Every moral philosophy is a product of its own era and the prejudices of that era. We now live in a scientific age, and we should rely on science to lead good lives, not outdated ethical ideas.
Or... We simply cannot think about morality without thinking philosophically, but the world is too complex to be boiled down to any one school of thought. We should adopt a flexible moral philosophy.
Keywords
Plato - One of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.
Deontology - An ethical theory invented by German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Its name comes from the Greek word deon, meaning duty, because it stresses the importance of clear, universal rules in guiding our actions.
Virtue ethics - A school of ethics that can be traced back to Plato's successor, Aristotle. Its most prominent modern advocates have been women: English philosopher Philippa Foot, Irish thinker Iris Murdoch and American academic Martha Nussbaum.
Utilitarianism - A theory of morality invented by English thinker Jeremy Bentham, who also devised a special kind of prison known as a panopticon.
Ends, rather than as means - The principle that Immanuel Kant placed at the very heart of his ethical theory. It means we must always respect the goals of others, and not simply use them to achieve our own goals.
‘The correct answer to every moral question’
Glossary
Plato - One of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.
Deontology - An ethical theory invented by German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Its name comes from the Greek word deon, meaning duty, because it stresses the importance of clear, universal rules in guiding our actions.
Virtue ethics - A school of ethics that can be traced back to Plato’s successor, Aristotle. Its most prominent modern advocates have been women: English philosopher Philippa Foot, Irish thinker Iris Murdoch and American academic Martha Nussbaum.
Utilitarianism - A theory of morality invented by English thinker Jeremy Bentham, who also devised a special kind of prison known as a panopticon.
Ends, rather than as means - The principle that Immanuel Kant placed at the very heart of his ethical theory. It means we must always respect the goals of others, and not simply use them to achieve our own goals.