Heavenly monotony? A response to philosophical objections to immortality
2020 SAW the airing of the finale of the sitcom “The Good Place.” Created by Michael Schur, the show received cult status as it explored questions of ethics and philosophy. The show tells the story of six protagonists navigating the after-life in search of “The Good Place” or to use traditional Christian language, Heaven.
2020 SAW the airing of the finale of the sitcom “The Good Place.” Created by Michael Schur, the show received cult status as it explored questions of ethics and philosophy. The show tells the story of six protagonists navigating the after-life in search of “The Good Place” or to use traditional Christian language, Heaven. In the final two episodes, they arrive at The Good Place only to find it to be a monotonous and meaningless pleasure land and its residents now “happiness zombies.”1 Thus Michael Schur raises questions around immortality and meaning, highlighting the monotony that Heaven as he imagines it must bring. In this short paper, we briefly examine three related advocates (including Schur) of this argument and ask if Christian theology can offer a more meaningful answer to the question of immortality.
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Andrew Campbell
Is Rector of Skerry, diocese of Connor, and Adjunct Lecturer in Theology at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. He holds a PhD in systematic theology from Queens University Belfast.