{"product_id":"the-good-place-and-philosophy-isbn-9781119633280","title":"The Good Place and Philosophy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDive into the moral philosophy at the heart of all four seasons of NBC’s \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e, guided by academic experts including the show’s philosophical consultants Pamela Hieronymi and Todd May, and featuring a foreword from creator and showrunner Michael Schur\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eExplicitly dedicated to the philosophical concepts, questions, and fundamental ethical dilemmas at the heart of the thoughtful and ambitious NBC sitcom \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eNavigates the murky waters of moral philosophy in more conceptual depth to call into question what Chidi’s ethics lessons—and the show—get right about learning to be a good person\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eFeatures contributions from \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e’s philosophical consultants, Pamela Hieronymi and Todd May, and introduced by the show’s creator and showrunner Michael Schur (\u003ci\u003eParks and Recreation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Office\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eEngages classic philosophical questions, including the clash between utilitarianism and deontological ethics in the “Trolley Problem,” Kant’s categorical imperative, Sartre’s nihilism, and T.M Scanlon's contractualism\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eExplores themes such as death, love, moral heroism, free will, responsibility, artificial intelligence, fatalism, skepticism, virtue ethics, perception, and the nature of autonomy in the surreal heaven-like afterlife of the Good Place\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eLed by Kimberly S. Engels, co-editor of \u003ci\u003eWestworld and Philosophy \u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eContributors ix\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEditor’s Introduction and Acknowledgments: “We Are Not in This Alone” xvii\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKimberly S. Engels\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eForeword xix\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichael Schur, creator of The Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntroduction xxiii\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePamela Hieronymi and Todd May, philosophical advisors to The Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I “I Just Ethics’d You in the Face” 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 How Do You Like Them Ethics? 3\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Baggett and Marybeth Baggett\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Don’t Let the Good Life Pass You By: Doug Forcett and the Limits of Self-Sacrifice 15\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGreg Littmann\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 Luck and Fairness in \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place \u003c\/i\u003e25\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eScott A. Davison and Andrew R. Davison\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II “Virtuous for Virtue’s Sake” 35\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 Can Eleanor Really Become a Better Person? 37\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEric J. Silverman and Zachary Swanson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place \u003c\/i\u003eand The Good Life 47\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eC. Scott Sevier\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 The Ethics of Indecision: Why Chidi Anagonye Belongs in The Bad Place 57\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTraci Phillipson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III “All Those Ethics Lessons Paid Off” 65\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 Moral Absurdity and Care Ethics in \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place \u003c\/i\u003e67\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLaura Matthews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 The Medium Place: Third Space, Morality, and Being In Between 75\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCatherine M. Robb\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 What We May Learn from Michael’s Solution to the Trolley Problem 87\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAndreas Bruns\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart IV “Help Is Other People” 97\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 Some Memories You May Have Forgotten: Holding Space for Each Other When Memory Fails 99\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlison Reiheld\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 The Good Other 110\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSteven A. Benko\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 Not Knowing Your Place: A Tale of Two Women 121\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeslie A. Aarons\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart V “Absurdity Needs to Be Confronted” 131\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13 Marginal Comforts Keep Us in Hell 133\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJake Jackson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 “I Would Refuse to Be a God if It Were Offered to Me”: Architects and Existentialism in \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place \u003c\/i\u003e141\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKimberly S. Engels\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart VI “Searching for Meaning Is Philosophical Suicide” 153\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 Death, Meaning, and Existential Crises 155\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKiki Berk\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 From Indecision to Ambiguity: Simone de Beauvoir and Chidi’s Moral Growth 166\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMatthew P. Meyer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 Beyond Good and Evil Places: Eternal Return of the Superhuman 178\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJames Lawler\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart VII “The Dalai Lama Texted Me That” 189\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e18 Conceptions of the Afterlife: \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place \u003c\/i\u003eand Religious Tradition 191\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichael McGowan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e19 Who Are Chidi and Eleanor in a Past-(After)Life? The Buddhist Notion of No-Self 202\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDane Sawyer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart VIII “Sometimes a Flaw Can Make Something Even More Beautiful” 211\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e20 Hell Is Other People’s Tastes 213\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDarren Hudson Hick and Sarah E. Worth\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e21 Why Everyone Hates Moral Philosophy Professors: The Aesthetics of Shallowness 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eT Storm Heter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart IX “Oh Cool, More Philosophy! That Will Help Us.” 237\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e22 An Epistemological Nightmare? Ways of Knowing in \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place \u003c\/i\u003e239\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDean A. Kowalski\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e23 What’s the Use of Free Will? 249\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoshua Tepley\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e24 From Clickwheel through Busty Alexa: The Embodied Case for Janet as Artificial Intelligence 260\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRobin L. Zebrowski\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e25 Why It Wouldn’t Be Rational to Believe You’re in The Good Place (and Why You Wouldn’t Want to Be Anyway) 270\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Kyle Johnson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 283\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKIMBERLY S. ENGELS\u003c\/b\u003e is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. She is the author of numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, and is the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eWestworld and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePHILOSOPHY\/POP CULTURE\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIs the points system fair, or does it punish and reward people unjustly?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDoes Chidi really belong in The Bad Place?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIs it possible for Michael to change his demonic nature?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIs Eleanor capable of true moral improvement?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIs Janet a person?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo other television show has embraced moral philosophy quite like \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e, NBC's quirky and inventive sitcom featuring an imperfect cast of characters who, by virtue of a bureaucratic fork-up, find themselves residents of a cheerful, verdant afterlife reserved for the ethically elite. Funny, clever, and reliably good-hearted, \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e may poke a bit of fun at philosophy and namedrop Aristotle, Sartre, and Kierkegaard with a wink and a nod, but the series centers itself firmly around its characters' moral evolution and the ways in which they grow together, beginning a meaningful dialogue with modern audiences about what it means to be a good person. Is morality fixed or relative? What does it mean to be good—and is goodness sustainable if we are inherently self-interested? What do we owe each other, and what does trying to become a better person look like? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Good Place and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e responds to the show's philosophical curiosity by mapping its broader intellectual landscape, adding context to Chidi's lectures and navigating the theoretical schematics of the ethical dilemmas that Eleanor and her friends face. Original essays situate \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place\u003c\/i\u003e in relation to the work of a wide range of classic and contemporary philosophers and schools of thought, and discuss diverse concepts drawn from all four seasons of the show, including Kant's categorical imperative, T.M. Scanlon's contractualism, and Philippa Foot's classic trolley problem. Featuring contributions from the show's creator Michael Schur (\u003ci\u003eParks and Recreation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Office\u003c\/i\u003e) and its philosophical consultants Pamela Hieronymi and Todd May, the collection explores the philosophical underpinnings of the series while offering insight into many of the show's inside jokes, references, and recurring themes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhether you're doing the recommended reading for Chidi's class or just want to know who died and left Aristotle in charge of ethics, \u003ci\u003eThe Good Place and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e is an accessible and engaging companion to the critically-acclaimed sitcom and its philosophical source material.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47990242541797,"sku":"NP9781119633280","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781119633280.jpg?v=1761787034","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-good-place-and-philosophy-isbn-9781119633280","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}