Nolan's Batman and the Field of Ethics
Utilitarian and Moral Philosophy of the Dark Knight
Jul 24, 2008
Utilitarianism had its origins with the Greek philosophers Epicurus and Democritus who proposed the hedonistic principle that people, in general, are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain. It was formed into a coherent, practical, scientific theory by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham. It was based on a mathematical equation, the “felicific calculus”, where people are making choices on the grounds of maximizing their level of happiness. As a legislator, he envisioned the goal of creating laws that ensured the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people.
The Ethical Dilemma of the Greater Good
In the movie "The Dark Knight", Batman, played by Christian Bale, has to choose between either saving his love Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) or the crime-fighting District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Most of us would probably let our personal feelings guide us and try to save the person we love. However, Batman chooses rationally believing that saving the District Attorney would be the more honorable action because a larger amount of people now and in the future would benefit from it, whereas saving Rachel would be less directed towards the common good, but more the satisfaction of a selfish motive from which only a few would benefit.
Does he make the right choice? According to the movie the answer is no. Dent, the person whom he saves has been traumatized by the death of his girlfriend Rachel and he starts an irrational quest for revenge by killing people he believes have betrayed him. As such, Batman’s plan backfires and more suffering is created by saving Dent’s life.
Another moral dilemma involves two ferries that are rigged with explosives. One of them transports federal criminals, people considered a threat to society, while on the other we find ordinary, respectable citizens. Without going into the details, the question involved deciding which ferry should be saved. The utilitarian principle would claim that the maximum benefits that the respectable citizens would bring clearly outweigh the overall benefits of the group of criminals who are usually regarded as a menace to society and as counterproductive.
The End Justifies the Means
Machiavelli in “The Prince” explained that moral transgressions are at times necessary for creating order or happiness for the people. He claimed that the means, meaning the methods, are justified by the end, that is, the outcome. If you kill one person, a dangerous and evil psychopath, for example, to save a group of people, the result makes your immoral action the correct and in fact desired choice.
Batman makes two questionable choices. The first one involves wire-tapping the cell phones, thus invading people’s civil and privacy rights to gain information about the location of the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. In this case, the action of breaking privacy laws is morally incorrect, but it leads to the greater benefit and the desirable outcome of stopping the Joker and saving people’s lives.
The second morally unsound choice is to lie and to preserve Dent’s integrity by saving the prosecutor’s image as a hero while covering up the fact that he had been personally responsible for the killing of various people. It is a deliberate act of deception to manipulate people’s beliefs in a hero. By covering up Dent’s failings he is turned into a public heroic figure that people could find inspiration in leading them to commit good in the world and to continue fighting evil in his name.
 |
 |
 |
 |
