How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question

By: Michael Schur

Michael Schur is a television writer and producer who has worked on shows like The Office, Master of None, The Comeback, and Hacks, and created or co-created Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place, and Rutherford Falls. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jennifer, and their two kids, William and Ivy.  

Most people think of themselves as “good,” but it’s not always easy to determine what’s “good” or “bad”—especially in a world filled with complicated choices and pitfalls and booby traps and bad advice. Fortunately, many smart philosophers have been pondering this conundrum for millennia and they have guidance for us. With bright wit and deep insight, How to Be Perfect explains concepts like deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, ubuntu, and more so we can sound cool at parties and become better people.

Schur starts off with easy ethical questions like “Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” (No.) and works his way up to the most complex moral issues we all face. Such as: Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences for being bad? And much more. By the time the book is done, we’ll know exactly how to act in every conceivable situation, so as to produce a verifiably maximal amount of moral good. We will be perfect, and all our friends will be jealous. OK, not quite. Instead, we’ll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day.

Schur distills what he has learned about ethics into How to Be Perfect, an enjoyable next step for anyone who watched the series and for anyone else who wants to learn about moral philosophy while avoiding the usual dry earnestness…The narrative voice is not that of a gentle professor but of a slightly manic bar-room joker who is actually funny and genuinely excited to share his passion with anyone who will listen...one of the most accessible entry points to philosophical ethics available—in short, a very good place to start.

- The Wall Street Journal

So brilliant and funny and warmly written you don’t realize you’re becoming a better person just by reading it

- Mindy Kaling

How to be Perfect is a kind, thoughtful, incredibly funny reflection on what it is to be a good human being. As a human being myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am certain that other human beings will enjoy it as well.

 

- Steve Carell

An enjoyably boisterous guide to the moral life. If you want to become morally better and don’t mind being entertained in the process, you’ve picked up the right book.

 

- Jeff McMahan, Philosophy Professor, Oxford