Essay 1: What the Hell?!
When people think of the afterlife, they often visualize the classic image of heaven and hell, in which one is subjected to either perpetual paradise or eternal damnation. Maybe some individuals will look at it from a philosophical point of view, or they will choose to envision the presence of a hell while still on Earth. As Jean-Paul Sartre concluded in his play No Exit, hell is not the traditional idea of physical torture, but rather, it is a result of human relations. While it has adapted this ideology for a modern audience, the sitcom The Good Place has introduced a fresh take on the idea that “hell is other people” (Sartre). Particularly, this definition is developed by the interactions between the inhabitants of the Good Place: Tahani, Jason, Eleanor, and Chidi.
For Tahani al-Jamil, hell is when there is no concrete reward for a life of philanthropy — or love of humankind. Hell is the feeling that something is missing; it is the inexplicable sense that something is out of place. Hell is when she is promised a soul mate, but instead, she is met by a drug dealing DJ from Jacksonville named Jason Mendoza. Hell is when she attempts to lower her standards in order to make a connection with her predestined significant other, but instead, she feels as though she is communicating with a brick wall. Hell is her inability to connect with those around her, and it is the subsequent feeling of emptiness in the midst of a seemingly utopian society.
For Eleanor Shellstrop, hell is the feeling that she does not belong. It is the constant threat of being morally inferior to those around her. Hell is the imperceivable amount of contempt she has for her neighbors, who inadvertently push her away in their attempts to make her feel welcome. It is the idea that she can never measure up to the ethical superiority of those in the Good Place. Hell is the blinding imperfection that prevents her from seeing the goodness she inherently possesses. It is a result of the elevated morality of those around her.
For Chidi, hell is when his soulmate consistently attempts to diminish his sense of morality. It is the enigmatic feeling of obligation to help others reach their ethical potentials, even when no one else believes in them. It is the moral responsibility to aid others in finding their salvation, despite the fact that it does not alter his own existential fate. It is the feeling of being caught between feelings of love and hate, and it is the dilemma of being unable to distinguish what he owes to others and what he owes to himself. Hell is the emotional response to falling in love with his opposite and, consequently, making decisions that will hurt others in the end.
Therefore, as demonstrated in The Good Place, hell is not physical torture met by demons and fire and pain. Indeed, hell is on earth; hell is other people.
Essay 2: The Existential Implications of Frozen Yogurt
When Eleanor Shellstrop died, her soul transitioned to its next stage of existence in the universe: the nondenominational afterlife known as The Good Place. As she awakened from her transitional rest, she felt a genuine sense of ease. She was no longer tied to the demands of the world or the feeling that she was inferior to those around her. At last, everything seemed in place. This was paradise, afterall.
Exiting from the waiting room in which she arrived, Eleanor emerged into the main square of the Good Place with a sense of renewal and rebirth. Filled with those who had lived perfect lives on earth, the main square served as an open forum for the elect, and it served as the central point of the precisely constructed utopia. As Eleanor travelled down the main street through the neighborhood’s center, she could not help but notice that almost every store sold primarily frozen yogurt. With bold colors, free products, and an array of flavors ranging from antimatter to full cell phone battery, the shops attracted the elect group of people. As she settled with her rainbow-colored fusion of flavor, she allowed the cool sweetness of the treat to fill her mouth and refresh her mind. The rush of flavor sparked an explosion of bliss, a genuine sense of glee, a spontaneous moment of pure serendipity. But all at once, the flavor was gone, and she found herself eating more and more, hoping that the faster she ate the longer the flavor would last. Soon enough, the yogurt was gone, and she was forced to look up from her sad, empty bowl and into the world around her. It was only then that she noticed those around her eating frozen yogurt and sparking conversation, engaging in lively encounters and paying careful attention to their manors. All she could hear was ringing laughter and pretentious accents, which echoed through her mind and filled her with the sense that she was hollow. She was hit with a sudden sense of inferiority; she was overcome with the dreadful sense that she did not belong. This feeling, coupled with a rising sense of jealousy, gripped her at the throat, and it demanded more frozen yogurt.
So Eleanor gave in, and she continued to consume pure sugar until she was full beyond capacity. Soon, she began to contemplate the ironic humanity behind the concept of frozen yogurt, for it served as the paragon of something that had been taken, made a bit worse, and inexplicably enjoyed by the masses. While one could be satiated and even pleased with frozen yogurt, he or she could never feel the same fulfillment brought about by ice cream. She drooled at the mere thought of smooth, creamy ice cream, and she began to miss the fullness of its taste. Both frozen yogurt and the afterlife began to seem less than perfect, and she melted into her feelings of hopeless mediocrity in the midst of eternal paradise.
Perhaps the afterlife — much like frozen yogurt — could never truly satiate her soul.
Essay 3: Eating Froyo on a Trolley
As I stand in the frozen yogurt store, I face a moral predicament: do I try all the flavors and hold up the rest of the line, or do I let someone else cut in front of my friend and me? While seemingly petty, my situation loosely mirrors the Trolley Problem, an ethical thought experiment that forms the basis of utilitarian philosophy. It sets a scenario in which one is on a trolley set to kill five people; however, he or she may divert the path of the trolley in order to kill one person instead. As I face my tough decision, I remember the time when Chidi, Eleanor, and Michael — three characters on “The Good Place” — reconstruct the Trolley Problem in the afterlife. Following their approach to solving this ethical dilemma, I have decided to interpret the steps for the real world.
The first step to solving the Trolley Problem is to simply get on the trolley. While Eleanor, Chidi, and Michael board a literal trolley, yours will most likely be a moral dilemma. Although seemingly obvious, this step is extremely important, because we often find ourselves running from our trolleys rather than confronting the problems we must face.
Once you board your ethical express, you must recognize your two options. Ahead, you see that, no matter what choice you make, you will have to make a sacrifice. Taking a utilitarian approach, you will most likely hurt the lesser amount of people; thus, your next step is to intentionally kill that one innocent person with your metaphorical trolley.
After you decide to kill one person, you will feel terrible. Yes, allow yourself to feel guilty for your decision and regret consciously hurting an innocent person. However, you cannot be like Chidi and dwell on it forever, because the next step will make you all the more frustrated.
Try the trolley problem again, but this time, see what will happen when you choose the other option. No, life does not usually give you second chances, but even imagining the alternate scenario is fundamental in order to restore faith in your own morality. So go ahead and kill those five people, and watch as their family and friends weep at the deaths of their loved ones. Indubitably, you will feel even worse than in the first scenario, and you must give yourself time to feel guilty once more.
If you dwell on the problem long enough, you may realize that there is one sacrifice you have overlooked: sacrifice of self. As Micheal, Eleanor, and Chidi run different scenarios of the Trolley Problem, they come to the ultimate conclusion that no matter what decision they make, they will always feel guilty for hurting others. They must throw themselves in front of the Trolley in order to cause the least amount of harm to the least amount of people.
Thus, as I stand in the frozen yogurt store, I decide to let others cut in front of me; however, I give my friend money to pay as I sit and ponder at all the possible flavors I could choose from. It is a small self-sacrifice, but at least it reassures me that I can solve the Trolley Problem.
Essay 4: Jeremy Bearimy
In season 3 of The Good Place, moral philosophy professor Chidi Anagonye suffers from a mental breakdown upon learning of the afterlife’s timeline: the “Jeremy Bearimy.” While time on earth moves in a linear progression, time in the universe resembles the name Jeremy Bearimy written in English cursive. Having dedicated his entire life to understanding the moral laws of the universe, Chidi is flustered by this discovery, and he immediately defers to his panic mode. While it may seem unlikely for someone who has served as the epitome of philosophical reason to be overcome by feelings of anxiety, such panic-induced episodes are undoubtedly a result of the ever-advancing modern world.
According to Kalpana Srivastava, an author of the Industrial Psychology Journal, urbanization has been characterized by negative “social, economic, and psychological” ramifications, as demonstrated by the fact that there is an 80.6% prevalence rate of mental disorders in urban areas in comparison to the “48.9% [rate] in rural area[s]” (Srivastava). In the liner timeline on Earth, society has demonstrated a tendency to expand and advance, resulting in the development of major urban centers such as New York City and Tokyo. However, as humans have strayed further from their primitive roots, there has been a spike in anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders, particularly due to the feeling of unimportance in a society that seems to be constantly expanding.
Overall, these negative patterns in society have reflected onto the individual, particularly in the education system in which one is expected to work hard for what society has deemed as good letters on a piece of paper. A person can dedicate his or her entire life to the study of a single subject, only for the ever-advancing world to demand more. They are constantly instructed to influence the future and create a better world for later generations, while they must also consider past and present research.These impossible demands of the urbanized world place unnecessary stress and feelings of worthlessness on the individual, resulting in poor mental health.
And finally, in all specificity, this sudden decline in mental health can be attributed to human physiology. No matter how many technological advancements humans can make; no matter how much information they can cram into their minds; and no matter how many great monuments they can build to their own glory, they are still limited by their biological compositions. When placed in stress-induced scenarios, the amygdala and sympathetic nervous system trigger a fight or flight response — a survival mechanism traced back to primitive humanity. While civilization may have progressed far down its linear timeline, it is still very much tied to these early roots.
Maybe the eternal rulers of the afterlife were wise in making the timeline run in a Jeremy Bearimy; maybe they saw that no matter what timeline one is placed in, he or she will be simultaneously tied to the past, present, and future. Time itself is anxiety-laden, and as humanity runs down this course, it will be be inclined to tire out. Even Chidi Anagonye is destined to collapse in this hopeless race.
Essay 5: Philosophical Flaws
Throughout history — from Benjamin Franklin to T.M. Scanlon — humans have been fascinated by the idea of moral perfection, in which one can live by certain philosophies in order to achieve a truly ethical life. According to the existential sitcom The Good Place, four philosophies have developed in order to achieve this level of morality: virtue ethics, consequentialism, deontology, and nihilism. Based on the predominance of such outlooks, these are the different morality types one will encounter on Earth:
The Virtuous One This individual follows by a strict code of virtue ethics. He or she sees that actions are associated with certain virtues, such as honesty and generosity, that determine one’s level of morality. In The Good Place, the character of Jason Mendoza embodies this concept, for he makes selfless decisions for the good of his dance crew and the benefit of his family. Aligning his actions with the values of selflessness and humility, he often places others’ needs above his own, even if it means committing crimes in order to support his family. While he has good intentions, he has hopelessly fallen victim to a ruthless system in which he is predestined to fail.
The Consequentialist The Consequentialist sees morality as judged by the result of one’s actions. He or she values the consequence more so than the intent that drives the specified action. For instance, Tahani al-Jamil’s jealousy of her sister drives her to make a name for herself; thus, she funds humanitarian missions in order to capture the attention of the public eye, as well as her parents. While her actions produce favorable results, her extrinsic motivation for fame prevents her from ever truly embracing a philanthropic love for humanity.
The Deontologist This individual follows by a set of principles dictated to be required for a functioning society. Rather than considering virtue or consequence, the Deontologist believes in upholding ethical rules that keep civilization in a state of equilibrium. As illustrated by Eleanor Shellstrop, a person who lives by this philosophy may only care for the well being of others if it means that the rules of society remain intact. However, this individual also has room for moral improvement and is much more capable of ethical superiority than he or she may be aware.
The Nihilist The Nihilist believes that there is no purpose for life on Earth, for humans are inevitably destined to die. According to this philosophy, there is no need for morality or ethics, for none of it will reap a reward in the end. This pessimistic outlook has prevailed in moral philosophy professor Chidi Anagonye, for his lifelong quest for moral perfection has only left him indecisive and unable to build meaningful relationships. Thus, he has surrendered his ethical integrity and adopted a belief that everything is meaningless.
While each of these philosophies are valid, they each possess certain flaws that prevent the achievement of moral perfection. As Jason, Tahani, Eleanor, and Chidi are all destined to eternity in the Bad Place, it is evident that none of these philosophies will garner the reward of salvation. Indubitably, perfection is impossible. Thus, perfection should not be one’s ultimate goal, but rather, a fanciful possibility.
Works Cited
Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit, and Three Other Plays, Vintage Books, 1955, pdf.
Schur, Michael, creator. The Good Place, 3 Arts Entertainment and Universal Television, 2018.
Srivastava, Kalpana. “Urbanization and Mental Health,” National Center for Biotechnology
Information, July 2009, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996208/.
❤️ Very interesting analogy, love reading your thoughts ❤️