If you miss getting high with your classmates and discussing the reading from college philosophy classes, this book may be for you. If you have a vendetta against footnotes, this book will be your nemesis. And if you’ve always wanted to learn about philosophy but were too intimidated by the 784 pages of Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” and you really like “The Good Place” this book is a good gateway drug into philosophy. This is the Golden Mean.

Michael Schur is a TV comedy writer famous for his half-hour sitcoms, and he brings that same sensibility to this digest of major moral philosophers. It’s fun, witty, approachable, and a fairly comprehensive general primer on moral philosophy. It avoids the trappings of many philosophy books by sidestepping formality and using common sense to bridge many of the more grueling and pedantic elements of the thiccc tomes that underpin modern moral philosophy. Schur also doesn’t take himself or the subject matter too seriously which is refreshing AF.

A few quick things in no particular order: This book has big ADD energy throughout. The footnotes can be extensive, some found them fun and engaging, while others found them annoying and distracting. Schur has opinions and isn’t afraid to share them, so if you’re looking for something unbiased, pass go and skip on down the bookshelf. One interesting observation is that no member of the book club changed their behavior in any way as a result of reading this book—which is a bummer, considering how many hours we all dedicated to a book about how to be better people. Also, the audiobook is well-performed and an experience in itself, with many fun celebrity cameos.

This book received a wide range of ratings. Normally, we vary by one or two points as a group, but this one scored anywhere from 5/10 to 9/10. It’s worth a try if you enjoy fun philosophy or have a crush on Albert Camus—but, if you already know the difference between Nicomachean Ethics and Scanlon’s social contract theory, you might want to skip it.
Either way, you’re doing great sweetie! 

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