Batman Utilitarianism Essay

“If a Utilitarian like Bentham looked at Batman’s choice to let the Joker live after all of his crimes, he might slap the Dark Knight upside the head”(Kane.) The reason being is that Utilitarians live on a seemingly simple rule, which will prove to be very demanding later on: We should act always so as to produce the greatest good for the greatest number. Kantianism, though, is rather quite the opposite of utilitarianism. In the most simple form, Kant says doing the right thing is by wanting to do the right thing, autonomously. Batman is a model Kantian, Bruce Wayne, though, is not. Wait, isn’t Bruce Wayne Batman? One could say that Bruce Wayne is the very essence of Batman. That the only reason Batman came about is that Bruce Wayne's parents …show more content…
“No one can take his place.”(Hank, CrashCourse) If you look back far and detailed enough you might remember that Robin once put on Batman’s costume in Bruce’s place, and so did officer Jim Gordon. Bruce Wayne and Batman are not identical, meaning they are not the exact same, to understand why is an essay for another time but simply to make sure it is understood that whenever Batman is stated, Bruce Wayne is not recalled. Before stating Kant’s opinion on whether or not Batman or Bruce Wayne is a morally good person, it is best to understand Kant’s wordy, yet solid moral philosophy, but even before that, we must understand what Kant defines as free will. Considering Kant, to act autonomously, is to act freely. To act autonomously is to act based on moral laws that you give to yourself. To act morally, is to live without contradictions from the hypothetical imperative(s) you …show more content…
The problem Batman has is that if he kills even a single human life, no matter how many innocent lives they have taken, he would be no better than any other criminal. The utilitarian could then argue, well aren’t the innocent lives lost at the hands of Joker, Batman's fault? Kant or Mill could then say Batman did not influence Joker in any moral way to make the Joker want to kill, that is his own doing. This dialogue could go back and forth forever, not just about Batman too. So is Batman a good person? I believe Kant would say so, as his actions alone have all been morally good and acceptable. Bruce Wayne, though, I believe the Utilitarian would say is a good person as he became an anti-crime fighting machine so that no other human being would have to endure what he had to as a child. Kant wouldn’t say the same, rather he would say that if Bruce Wayne became Batman just because he knew that getting rid of crime is good, then he would be acting in a morally correct way. Contrariwise Mr. Wayne only became Batman as a means to his end of processing his parents’ death. Technically then, you could say Batman and Bruce Wayne are in a way good and bad. It all just depends on the