Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, April 24, 2017

Installment 1 Class 9

Taylor Trombley #9 Installment 1

Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul
Many generations of people love Batman because they feel they can relate to him because he is merely human, even though he is very different than them. Batman/Bruce Wayne is a super hero with no super powers and still manages to always come out on top no matter who he faces meta human or not. He has devoted his life to avenging his parents who were murdered in front of him when he was a boy and saving Gotham City from those who wish its citizens harm. Bruce is a billionaire who prefers to distance himself from a life of luxury other than his butler Alfred Pennyworth. Who he regards as a father figure, and really the only family he has left. He has trained for years to strengthen his body and mind in remote places. He also fights crime wearing a bat suit. Batman’s arch-nemesis is The Joker, also known as Jack Napier, and The Clown Prince of Crime. He has killed hundreds of people such as Jason Todd (Robin) and Jim Gordon’s second wife. He also shot Barbra Gordon (Batgirl) which paralyzed her from the waist down, then he proceeded to violate her then showed her father pictures of her naked and bloody. In other words the Joker is extremely deranged individual. Batman knows that the Joker will escape the Arkham Insane Asylum and kill again. So why doesn’t Batman do Gotham and himself a favor and end the Joker once and for all?He has even go out of his way to stop others from killing the Joker. This is due to Batman swearing he will never kill because he doesn’t want to end up like the criminals he fights. Some people would say this is selfish because if he could do something that benefits others or saves others’ lives he should do it. But what about if that thing is murder? Is it better to do good or nothing wrong? Should Batman kill to prevent others from being killed? Even friends turned foe of Batman who have returned from the dead have argued with him that he could have saved them if he didn’t have such a strict morale code. I believe that Batman is a deontologist because he holds value for all life. That the end does not justify the means, the means justify themselves on their own merit. Although a deontologist can justify killing for self-defense, Batman would be a very extreme case of this. In the light of the “trolley problem” Bruce would probably flip the switch but he would have a major problem with it. The deontologist would strive for the right action not just the greatest good. Which is what Batman does. The Joker tricked Superman into killing Lois Lane and his unborn child, which resulted in Superman ripping out the Jokers heart. Most of us would agree that this is justified but not Batman, not just because he believes killing is wrong but because he knows what it does to people, even Superman. He feels that you will become like those you kill, and murdering a murderer keeps the number the same.

1 comment:

  1. Boy, has Batman ever gotten dark since my Adam West days!

    He's right, though, isn't he? We ARE what we do. Revenge makes us vengeful. Killing makes us killers.

    ReplyDelete

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