The Good Place and Philosophy

More explicitly than any other piece of pop culture, The Good Place uses the work of historical philosophers to tell its story. Confronting viewers with ideas from Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard The Good Place is a clever and comical engagement with classic philosophical questions. To help address these questions, the book in your hands applies the tools of argument and reason to the show's characters and plot lines. Chidi only scratches the surface with his ethics classes. So this book dives deeper with the help of major thinkers such as Luce Irigaray, Buddha, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emmanuel Levinas, and Judith Jarvis Thomson. Covering all four seasons, and including contributions from the show's creator Michael Schur and the show's philosophical advisors Pamela Hieronymi and Todd May, this book is the definitive account of The Good Place. With humor and insight, it explores questions such as: Is the points system fair? Can Eleanor truly morally improve? Does Chidi really belong in The Bad Place? Is Janet a person? Did their gender contribute to why Eleanor and Tahani end up in The Bad Place? Can Michael overcome his demonic nature through choice? Is Hell other people's tastes? What do we owe each other? How can we solve the Trolley Problem?