The Philosophical Battle of The Dark Knight 

In The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan incorporates characteristics of philosophical ideology, especially those concepts pertaining to existentialism. Existentialism encompasses the configuration of propositions regarding the essence of the human existence. Several philosophers have coined their own doctrines, often building off of previous ideas. Because there are common themes within existentialism, connections can be made amongst different ideas. If observed closely, the interconnection of concepts can be detected throughout the plot and characters from The Dark Knight.

The movie is set in a city called Gotham, where Batman resides. Harvey Dent, the new district attorney, wants to conduct a plan to overcome the crime and violence that has become prominent throughout the city. Batman, a vigilante, believes that he can help eliminate this crime, and there is an emergence of people fighting for the same cause, including Kent, Batman, and Lieutenant Jim Gordon. However, when a villain who goes by the name of “The Joker” disrupts Gotham, he destroys the potentials for peace in the city. He planned underwent a bank robbery, and proceeded to use the stolen money to strike against the people of Gotham, particularly Batman and Harvey Dent, but still provoking chaos to outbreak throughout the city. Between sadistic taunting from The Joker and the self-reflections of one’s role in the Gotham society, the film contains many psychological tests for the characters that forces them to reconsider all of their beliefs. The characters from The Dark Knight encompass the various ideas from philosophers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Sartre when they tackle situations addressing personal virtues, decisions, and morality.Batman is often found examining his position in the broader spectrum of justice to the people of his city. As the hero, he must make decisions on behalf of other people and it is his responsibility to act upon situations in either the right or wrong way. While God is not a notable figure in the film, the city of Gotham is the center of everything for Bruce Wayne, the alter-ego of Batman. The crime is horrendous in Gotham, and the violence ultimately led to the murder of his parents. After reflecting on his trauma as a boy, Wayne reevaluates his life and decides to fight this crime in Gotham. Metaphorically, Gotham is the God for Bruce Wayne, who has complete faith in the society and its people. Søren Kierkegaard distinguishes between two different types of people: the Knight of Faith and the tragic hero. He compares the two by saying that “while the tragic hero is great because of his moral virtue, [the Knight of Faith] is great because of a purely personal virtue. ” (Kaufmann 14).

In other words, the Knight of Faith is one who can be separated from the universal because of their radical faith. The relationship to their faith is the justification for removing oneself from what is known to be the common moral. Meanwhile, the tragic hero is committed to the moral code that the Knight of Faith can abandon. Because of this moral code, the tragic hero can be relatable and can be considered to be for the “universal” or common good (12). Batman struggles to choose one and battles between whether he is a hero or whether he is a vigilante which can serve as analogy to the Knight of Faith and the tragic hero. Batman seems to be a tragic hero because he is serving the people of Gotham, but he is actually more representative of the Knight of Faith. Batman is often faced with decisions on behalf of Gotham, from choosing between two lives, killing Harvey Dent, and taking the responsibility for Dent’s actions, Batman is not demonstrating moral integrity. He is making the decisions that he believes will serve his faith to the city, while abandoning all moral codes. The Joker is another representation of the abandonment of a moral code, but his reasoning is contrasting to the reasoning of Batman.

The Joker believed in an isolation from the crowd and their moral codes, regardless of faith. The Joker tells Batman: “Don’t talk like one of them, you’re not. Even if you want to be. To them, you’re just a freak, like me. ” As they argue in the prison, The Joker wants Batman to understand that the concept being the moral code of the people of Gotham is corrupt. He says, “Their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows to be. These civilized people will eat each other. I’m not a monster…” (“Prison Scene”). The moral code represents the majority, or the collective, which philosophers such as Nietzsche resented. Nietzsche believed that men are not honest with themselves and they cannot find their true identity. He asserted that people must reflect on their individual selves alone and create their own meaning, which can only be done through isolation (Kaufmann 123). Rather than prioritizing a materialistic approach, he believed that human consideration towards their experiences, whether happy or miserable, should be the main focus. As a collective, society fears being removed and becoming an individual, so they rely on each other and on a common agreement. Traditionally, this belief that ties together individuals is the belief in the Judeo-Christian. Nietzsche acknowledges that people use religion to comfort themselves and mocks the people when he says, “How shall we, the murders of all murders, comfort ourselves. ” (126). Questioning the existence of God strips away the credibility of the moral code of Christianity and removes self-validation from the people that conform to the same morality. In the text, Nietzsche presents a madman to depict the idea that there should be progressive people, denying purely Christian morals as the guide. This madman is similar to The Joker in the sense that he acknowledges the flaws within a moral code. He tells Batman, “You have all these rules and you think they’ll save you.

That is the rule you will have to break to know the truth. The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. ” When he refers to rules, he refers to the same concept that people cannot understand the true meaning of life if they cannot decide this meaning for themselves. The Joker is portrayed as the villain of Gotham because he defies the morals such as “do not steal” and “do not kill. ” His argument, which we see in the Death of God mentality, is that the moral code is a social construct used by ignorant people who need justifications and who would be lost otherwise. The conflict between The Joker and Harvey Dent, who is mentioned earlier, deals with concepts of freedom and dread, as presented by Kierkegaard. He defines dread as “a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy,” (Kaufmann 102). It describes the anxiety that humans experience in their lives, which often correlates to having to make a decision.

The freedom of choice leads to the “dizziness of freedom” which is awareness of the responsibility to make a choice (105). Having the power to choose can make a person feel dread because they are conflicted with whether or not they are making the right choice. He says that people are given absolute freedom, and therefore as easily as they can make the right decision, they can make choices that terrify them. Dread relates to original sin and Kierkegaard made this connection through Adam and Eve. Adam did not know that the forbidden fruit was evil prior to original sin, the awareness of freedom created dread. He knew he would either disobey God or please him, and led to original sin, which states that all people have tendencies to sin because of Adam. Dread can either be dread to do the right thing or dread to do the wrong thing, but it ultimately sheds a light on the self reflection of that individual. Instead of dealing with the dread himself, the Joker gave the choice to kill him to Harvey Dent. The Joker murdered Dent’s fianceé and burned half of his face off, leaving him in the hospital. The Joker pays Dent a visit and presents the opportunity to get revenge by shooting him; however, Dent could not bring himself to retaliate on the Joker. The Joker describes himself as an “agent of chaos” and tells him that chaos is the only fair thing in life, using manipulation against Dent. Even though the death of the Joker was Dent’s original agenda to get rid of the crime, he was unable to accept dread from the freedom to choose the fate of the Joker. He would not have received a punishment for pulling the trigger, but he the dread was so intense that he took the responsibility away from himself.

As a result, he uses a coin to determine what will happen, stating the heads signifies life and tails signifies death (“Two-Face”). Because he did not use his values or his concious to make a decision and act upon it, the Joker was successful and able to corrupt the city’s role model. Instead of relying on his morals, he allows himself to be sucked into the idea of “chance” instead. Dent was left with another decision, which was getting revenge on Lieutenant Gordon for allowing his fianceé to die. Batman tells Dent that he does not have to let chance be the way of life, and that he has the decision to forgive and save Gordon’s son. He says, “He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall. ” (“Harvey”). This statement reinforces the idea that to exist, one must be able choose and Harvey was unable to maintain his status as a good man. Sarte, another philosopher, had a similar opinion. He said, “You are free, therefore choose – that is to say, invent. ” He believed that despite authorities, it is important that a person must have the ability to make choices, no matter how much the moral consequences are weighed (Bakewell 9). This coin is an integral part of Dent’s life and he uses it as a decisive mechanism in many aspects of his life, but it symbolizes that he is not making any choices in his life. Dent used to believe that the was acting for the “greater good,” but then he realized that most rules were made up by people. The rules of society relate back to Nietzsche and his “God is dead” statement. In the system set up in Gotham, people find their meaning and are able to mold the structure to fit their wants. Harvey Dent used to be a man of the society, trying to He points out to Batman: “It’s not about what I want, it’s about what’s fair. You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time.

The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance. ” After being exposed to the darkness of the Joker, he is conscious of the flaws of his society, and he realizes that the morality of collective cannot account for every person. The characters from The Dark Knight struggle with themselves and their roles in the grander scheme of life, and they are seen questioning and exploring the philosophies of the most prominent existentialists in history. Because there are many reoccuring themes, the philosophies and their roots are visible when observing the dialogue and actions of characters like the Joker, Harvey Dent, and Batman himself. Although they explore possibilities for their existence, morality, virtue, and freedom, the situations are still personal to each character and are not necessarily a spitting image of the lives of the philosophers. Therefore, audiences can see the the existentialist ideology that is present in The Dark Knight rises, along with other ideas that were not mentioned, in the media, books, films and other art forms because they are questions that can be relevant in all human beings’ lives.