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

Note: Our book club requires that attendees do the assigned readings before the meeting.

Please join us for our online book club discussion series as we take a light hearted look into Moral Philosophy with “How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question" by Michael Schur.

Assigned reading for this week: The Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2. Please Note: Completion of the assigned reading is a prerequisite for attending. If you do not have the chance to do the reading, please join us another time.

What is this book about?
From the creator of The Good Place and the cocreator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,400 years of deep thinking from around the world.

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.

About the author
Michael Herbert Schur (born October 29, 1975[1][2][3]) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor. He started his career as a writer for Saturday Night Live (1998–2004) before gaining acclaim as a writer and producer of the sitcom The Office (2005–2013), where he also played Mose Schrute. He expanded his career co-creating Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) with Greg Daniels and the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021) with Dan Goor, and creating the sitcom The Good Place (2016–2020), the sitcom Rutherford Falls (2020–2022), and the comedy series A Man on the Inside (2024–present). He has served as a producer of the comedy drama series Master of None (2015–2021) and the comedy drama series Hacks (2021–2026).

How this book club works.
Our book discussion will be spread over several consecutive weeks, with two-hour meetings every Tuesday evening. This gives us time to explore the readings with the depth and care they deserve. Please bring your own thought-provoking questions and insights from the reading to share with the group. We like lively discussions that challenge our own ideas and those of the author and allow us to learn from each other -- while enjoying camaraderie! All we ask is that everyone be treated as co-equals, both in respect and approximate speaking time. Feel free to post (in the Comments below) any additional resources you find -- including ones that challenge the author. We hope to see you at our Tuesday meetings!