James M. Russell - The Forking Trolley

JAMES M. RUSSELL has a philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, a post-graduate qualification in critical theory, and has taught at the Open University in the UK. He currently works as director of a media-related business. He is the author of A Brief Guide to Philosophical Classics and A Brief Guide to Spiritual Classics. He lives in north London with his wife, daughter and two cats.

This edition first published in the UK in 2019 by

PALAZZO EDITIONS LTD

15 Church Road

London SW14 9HE

www.palazzoeditions.com

Text 2019 James M. Russell

Design and layout 2019 Palazzo Editions Ltd

Illustrations by Diane Law

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.

This is an independent publication and is not associated with or authorized, licensed, sponsored, or endorsed by any person, entity, or product affiliated with The Good Place. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners, are used for editorial purposes only, and the publisher makes no claim of ownership and shall acquire no right, title, or interest in such trademarks by virtue of this publication.

Book ISBN: 9781786750792

eBook ISBN: 9781786750877

Printed and bound in the UK by CPI

Everything is Fine!
An Overview of Moral Philosophy

Somewhere Else
Calculating the Consequences

Whats My Motivation?
Following the Rules

The Trolley Problem
The Trouble With Thought Experiments

What We Owe to Each Other
Rights and the Social Contract

My Best Self
The Ideal of Moral Virtue

Existential Crisis
Alternative Approaches to Ethics

Team Cockroach
The Ethics of Behaving Badly

Someone Like Me as a Member
Moral Particularism and Egoism

The Leap to Faith
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Other Dirtbags

Everything is Bonzer!
Medium People and Their Consciences

Conclusion
Being Good

Welcome!
Everything is fine.

This book is inspired by the brilliant TV comedy The Good Place, which combines surreal humor and a twisting storyline with a sincere attempt to consider the question what does it mean to be a good person? In the first episode we meet Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) in the moments after her undignified death (she was stooping to pick up her bottle of Lonely Gal Margarita Mix for One in a parking lot when a line of shopping trolleys shunted her in front of a truck carrying a mobile billboard for Engorgulate, an erectile dysfunction treatment). She meets the eternal being Michael (Ted Danson) who assures her that, while most religions only got what happens after death a little bit right, she definitely is in the Good Place rather than the Bad Place.

As we see in various flashbacks, Eleanor has actually lived a pretty mediocre life, treating her friends and acquaintances with disdain, and rarely acting out of anything other than self-interest. We later discover that her original plan for the night she died had been to sit on her own at her house watching wedding fails videos on the Internet and drinking her cocktails through a straw until I pass out on top of my vibrator.

Realizing that a huge mistake has been made (albeit a fortunate one for her) she asks her supposed soulmate Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper) to teach her how to be a good person so that she can avoid being discovered and sent to the Bad Place. As a professor of ethics and moral philosophy he is particularly well placed to help her, but also paralyzed by uncertainty (and anxiety-induced stomach aches) when it comes to deciding what the right path of action is.

Of course, this is only the starting point of a long complex journey, but the key point is that throughout the first two seasons the show never loses sight of the question of what it means to be good (and this seems set to continue, given the fascinating set-up for the next phase of the show).

This book is intentionally written to avoid relying on or giving away the entire plot so that it might be understood by someone who hasnt seen the show. However, it should be noted that it is more or less impossible to write about the many staggering narrative twists and turns in The Good Place without risking some degree of spoilers (by, for instance, mentioning other Places or revealing the identity of particular characters), so please dont expect a perfect veil of to be in place.

So, while the show will be referenced, it will be as a brief introduction to moral dilemmas and questions that can also be approached from other angles. From a broader viewpoint, we are going to take a journey through some of the main strands of ethical thought, with reference to 21st century moral dilemmas in particular.