False Morality In The Dark Knight

In todays society, people who do good are generally looked up to and people who do evil are looked down upon. What can be questioned though, is the motive behind why people act the way that they do. Do people act virtuous to create a good image of themselves or because it is truly who they are? The movie The Dark Knight is more than just a film for entertainment, it is a great representation of why humans act the way that they do. Throughout The Dark Knight, many different characters a put into a variety of situations. In each of these situations, the characters are forced to make moral decisions. What determines how people will react to these situations is what they think will bring them true happiness. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy’s arguments about the pursuit of happiness help to prove that humans in general are naturally virtuous, but in some cases people act to achieve false happiness. The Joker is convinced that people only act with morals because it is a societal norm, not because it is who they really are, “They’re only as good as the world allows …show more content…
“People pursue wealth and riches because they think it will bring them self-sufficiency… and through pleasure the will attain joy” (Lecture Handout, “On Boethius,” September 27, 2016). This is why the mobsters hate Batman. He is a threat to their illegal actions, therefor their riches and false happiness. Lady Philosophy states, “Do you want to pile up large sums of money? Where will you get it if not from those who have it?” (Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, pp. 77). The mobsters are dependent on money and power for happiness, therefore dependent on the sources that they obtain money and power from for happiness. If they were to lose their money and power, they would lose their happiness, and that is why it is false