Epperson states that “A person can be said to act with integrity when acting in a way consistent with his or her deeply held moral judgments, judgments about which actions are right or wrong and which objects are good or bad” (p. 255), however he also states that the characters present within the show “Seinfeld” had little or no morals. Epperson further states that though Kramer is able to act with integrity, as in when he gives advice to “George to “listen to your little man” in making a difficult moral decision” (p. 256). In other words, though Kramer is acting with integrity as he is standing up for what he believes in, he is not necessarily a moral character, but rather a moral nihilist, one who simply acts on his own judgments of conduct, and believes that there are no true moral principles or theories in existence; Epperson argues that it is not just Kramer, but in fact all of the characters on the television show who display this same sense of moral nihilism (p. 256).
The moral life is a life that is concerned with acting right, a continuous activity one that it cannot be said to apply to the characters of the show itself (Epperson, p.259). In essence, the characters are primarily focused on the mannerisms, or lack thereof, that should be displayed, or not displayed within public society, and manners and good social etiquette are not the equivalent of morals or moral behaviors. Morals are beliefs that are held about what is right and wrong, something that differs greatly from the manners that are imposed upon society by the mores and norms that are contained therein. Though the characters may be said to be acting with integrity, on occasion, these characters cannot be said to be moral, given that the process of fitting in, the superficial, and the manners that are expected of those who are present within a given society are not the same thing as morals.
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"Philosophy of Media".
- Epperson. (2000). Seinfeld and philosophy. New York, NY: Carus Publishing Company.
