The Big Bang Theory

So the other night my dad texted me and told me to watch the Halloween episode of, The Big Bang Theory, a popular TV series played on CBS. I was in the mood for a good laugh and it seemed appropriate given that it was Halloween so I decided to watch it. The holiday though turned out to not be the only reason for it’s appropriateness; ironically in the middle of the show one of the characters, Sheldon, began talking about the philosopher we are currently discussing in class, Friedrich Nietzsche. Sheldon used the beliefs of Nietzsche to help advise his friend, Leonard.

Here’s what happened, Leonard couldn’t make a decision and was having a quoted “moral crisis”, so he went to Sheldon for help. He explains that he recently met a girl at the comic book store who he is attracted to and has a lot in common with, however he has a long-term girlfriend who he loves but she is currently out of the country. He is supposed to go see the comic book store girl that night but doesn’t know if he should. He doesn’t want to be a “bad” guy but he is more worried that he will regret it if he doesn’t.

Sheldon then responds to his dilemma by saying, “You know, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, believed that morality is just a fiction used by the herd of inferior human beings to hold back the few superior men.” Leonard finds this surprisingly helpful and leaves to see the girl.

So, Sheldon’s description in other words means that according to Nietzsche, morality really doesn’t exist. Then therefore, since morality is simply fiction, Leonard doesn’t need to worry about the fact that he will be cheating on his girlfriend, for if morality doesn’t exist then he shouldn’t feel guilty. This sounds like he is consulting the master morality belief, in that he has a “yes-saying” attitude and that he is creating his own values.

This seems like a very simple way of explaining Nietzsche’s beliefs and considering his philosophy through this sense does not give me a very positive outlook on it. Especially since Leonard took the advice and left to go to the comic book store girl’s house knowing that he was going to cheat on his girlfriend. With Sheldon simply stating that inferior humans make up moral values in order to hold back superior men makes it seem as though the “weak” are bad and the “nobles” are good, which is a different perspective than I had gotten in class. Do you agree or disagree? Does this representation of Nietzsche’s seem correct, or did I just get the wrong impression?