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

by Michael Schur

pronouns

minimally intrusive request.

When we realize the leopards that cause our moral anguish won’t change their spots, we then have to make our own decision: Do we keep supporting them, or do we cut our emotional and financial ties?

the contractualist argument.

Could we reasonably reject a principle that allows racist characterizations of persecuted people to be used as team mascots? Of course.

Deontology

will into existence a world where once anyone gets enough money or achieves enough influence, he can stop considering the feelings or needs of those less fortunate.

Kant would reject Snyder’s actions, and since we’re supporting a franchise that’s blatantly violating both8 formulations of the categorical imperative

Applying virtue ethics:

golden mean of compassion.

Utilitarianism

It is, I suppose, possible that if he changed the name, the total pain felt by Washington fans who don’t want it to change would be greater than that felt by Indigenous people if he chose to retain it. But are these two pains comparable?

But what about the utilitarian argument regarding us, and our fandom?

Allen

our schools of thought will likely tell us we should, indeed, swear these things off.

Consequentialism,

Kant

virtue ethics.

Compare freeganism

if we really confront the wrongs of the artists as we consume their work, instead of making excuses or living in denial—we can to some degree forgive ourselves for keeping them in our lives.

maintaining those two ideas simultaneously can help us avoid the pain of severing all ties while still striving for self-improvement.

Is it always enough simply to keep two conflicting ideas in our heads at the same time? How do we know when someone has crossed over from “troubling” to “indefensible”?

It also doesn’t help anyone to remain silent when our friends or loved ones or casual acquaintances say something racist, sexist, or offensive. Action is called for here, in the name of openness and improvement, both for us and for other people.

If we love Aunt Connie, and care about her, wouldn’t we want her to feel a little shame if she’s saying something shameful? Wouldn’t we want to help her flourish? And don’t we want to work at finding the golden mean of mildness—expressing the right amount of anger in the right situations?

we keep two conflicting thoughts in our minds at the same time: I love this person. This person is causing me anguish. We treat those thoughts with equal weight. And we hope the person in question will do the same.

We may all be born with those virtue starter kits

but Annas points out that it shouldn’t be held against people when circumstances deny them the chance to develop that potential into actual virtues.

It seems unfair to demand the same level of ethical effort from an unwittingly opioid-addicted woman as we would from Jeff Bezos, or me, or any average citizen.

In the role playing game known as The Real World, “Straight White Male” is the lowest difficulty setting there is.

The fundamental problem with applying the same ethical theories equally to all people is that all people aren’t living equal lives.

“meritocracy.”

heterosexual, rich, white men, with a bookshelf full of Ayn Rand novels) conveniently forget that for a meritocracy to work—for a society to properly value and celebrate hard work and individual success—the people within the society need to start from the same point of origin. Otherwise, the cream isn’t rising to the top—the people who were closest to the top already are rising to the top,

We were all born into circumstances over which we had no control, and which conferred on us certain advantages or disadvantages.

I escaped all of those booby traps, which can throttle people as they attempt to make their way in the world, through no effort of my own,

Robert Frank

people generally underestimate the role that luck has played in their lives.

emphasizing talent and hard work to the exclusion of other factors, successful people reinforce their claim to the money they’ve earned.”

people who achieve (or inherit) a high level of wealth and success are invested in the idea that they earned it.

Michael Jordan,

Yes, he worked hard. But see below: "And yet..."

If you take Jordan’s exact personality, talent profile, and work ethic, and put them in the body of a five-foot-two goat herder in Bangladesh, he does not become Air Jordan, six-time NBA champion.

if Jordan had been born exactly the same person, but seventy-five years earlier, we likely never would have heard of him.

Warren Buffett,

ovarian lottery.

If Bill Gates had been

It’s okay to admit that part of what they have is due to luck. It doesn’t diminish their achievements.

the gods of luck. It means my moral requirements, on a day-to-day basis, are far greater than average. I owe more to most people than they do to me.

there is a baseline of morality—some

that everyone must adhere to.

Rawls

the veil of ignorance.