In Our World: The Joker Wins

The Dark Knight was the major sequel to Batman Begins. Aside from being a box office hit and my personal favorite of the two films, it also unintentionally (i.e. I don't actually think the writers had these ideas in mind) raises the most important ethical questions of the postmodern world. With the Batman already established as the "dark knight" of Gotham city, he represents the reasonless a la carte deontology that so many in our world believe in. As his foil we are presented with the Joker, a villain whose only goal is to "just DO things."

For me, the most memorable moment of the film is in the hospital when he lays out his thought or lack thereof:

"I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if a caught it. I just DO things. I'm just the wrench in the gears. I hate plans ... So when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know I'm telling the truth ... I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself ... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!"

But the closest equivalent we have from Batman is essentially, "This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good." The Batman spends a long time professing the goodness of good, but never defines his terms. Ordinarily, there is a general standard the vast majority of people hold to that is sufficient for superheroes to adhere to and defend. Lex Luther wants to overthrow life and liberty, Superman wants to stop this, and no one questions who's on the right side. The problem that Bruce Wayne runs into in the Dark Knight is that the Joker is not presenting himself as evil. Most villains have no reservations as to the moral character of their actions, but the Joker is questioning the existence of good itself. He puts himself beyond good and evil (This is me using extremely subtle foreshadowing). This characterizes the natural end of the post-enlightenment discussion on ethics as laid out by Alasdair MacIntyre in After Virtue. Gordon and Harvey Dent both work for justice deliberately within the established legal system. Batman is said to have only one rule: He will not kill anyone. The Joker only asks why. From a Catholic perspective we can answer these questions from a teleological perspective, but the modern and postmodern world has lost the ability to see this.

More importantly, the postmodern man has no way to respond to the Joker's "argument." Because they have lost the idea of teleology and reduce morality to a question of pure rationality, such as Kant's categorical imperative, modern attempts to define right and wrong actually become arbitrary likes and dislikes. MacIntyre refers to this as emotivism. Morality coming only from within ourselves based on emotional responses to actions. Try as he might, the postmodern man cannot say any particular action is good or bad, and if he does he is only expressing that the actions make him feel positive or negative emotions. It is the Joker who recognizes the Nietzchien end of the destruction of classical ethics. Walking away from The Dark Knight should leave you unsatisfied. (intellectually, that is) Yes, we know the Joker is evil and it was right for Batman to stop him, but the Batman the movie portrays is philosophically weak.
Moral arguments must always come down to some unprovable presupposition. For Batman, it is simply that good is good because it is good (I am not claiming this is circular). If we are to believe MacIntyre, we can test these presuppositions by seeing how they rationally handle different moral situations. As Catholics, we say that the teleological approach is best, but that is for a different post. Batman's approach only comes off as arbitrary when broken down. His presuppositions don't allow us to extrapolate any universal moral oughts. Even though Batman wins and "evil" is punished, we are left wondering if Batman wins for the sake of the Good or for the sake of arbitrary control. As Catholics, we are left with a way out of the real slippery slope toward the ethic-less Joker, but what of the postmodern world that has lost the ideas of teleology?
Realistically, I believe that natural law is written on the hearts of men and that we will never see a truly morally bankrupt society, but I can't help but be bothered by the implications of relativistic ethics. It's not so much that people hold ideas contrary to mine; it's that they either won't admit it or they are internally consistent. I love The Dark Knight because I think it's the closest we'll get to a simple demonstration of the conflict presented by After Virtue.

Also I just realized in writing this post that "Dark Knight" is a pun. I'm quick on the uptake.