Superman, after rescuing Lois Lane, has a bone to pick with Lex Luther. Luther
had a brilliant plan to get rid of Superman, and part of his plan included
another superhero who keeps the peace, Batman. Luther's plan was to create a rift
between the two, cause them to fight and then take over.
I have to admit I was suspect when I first saw this movie come out. I was like "Batman versus Superman...that seems like a no contest." Superman is superman, all-powerful, virtually unstoppable, and the protector of mankind. Batman is just a rich man with a protective suite, with tons of cool gadgets to give him an upperhand. He certainly cannot kill Superman...unless one of his gadgets includes Kryptonite. Now we got a movie folks.
There is a scene in the movie where Lois Lane is in some hostile country getting a story from the leader of a group of rebels. The rebels are very strict on the circumstances of the meeting. Their location cannot be known, and the contents of Lane's crew are inspected to assure they are not being tracked. Along with Lane is a CIA agent who poses as a cameraman for the paper. He is sniffed out, and Lois is in grave danger. BUT who is ever really in danger when you are loved and protected basically by a god. Superman makes short work of the threat, but his action of killing the threat to Lois is put under scrutiny. If Superman can make moral judgements, he must be held accountable for them...right?
Well Batman certainly thinks so. He didn't need much convincing from Luther that Superman needed to go. Bruce Wayne already has a bad taste in his mouth when the Kryponians came to duke it out on Earth a few years earlier. No one could stop them, and during their battling, innocent people were killed who had no beef with Kryptonians. Superman who does not live under the morality of humankind, does not need to be the protector, judge, and administrator of justice, and certainly is not the standard of morality in Wayne's mind.
Which leds to Luther's dialog, "if God is all-powerful, then he cannot be all good." Or "if God is all-good he cannot be all-powerful." Get rid of God and what else is in your way?
Nietzche did just that. He felt that the enlightment removed the concept of God.
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"
— Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125
Nietzche argued that morality came from our conquest for power. The code of conduct that we live by was established by a master-slave relationship. Those in power felt they were morally just because they were benifitted with all the luxuries of being in control. Those who were enslaved saw that the character of those in control were morally wrong and evil. Morality was based on perspective and this cannot be truth, because morality shouldn't shift based on social-economic circumstances, it should be universal.
Nietzche argued that morality defined from certain criteria is not true morality. There are two components that establish morality. There is the Description Component and the Normative Component. There are three criteria that would make morality false in the description sense according to Nietzche.
The first point is obvious, if we don't have free-will, then our moral code is not human defined. The second point requires a bit of reflection. Let's say we don't use a human agent, but something else. Does a toaster know it's a toaster? Does a number know that it is a number? When 25 asks the neighbor "Who are you, would the next number know well enough "I'm 26."
We are self-aware, we do know our existence, but according to Nietzche our will and motivation seeks power above everything else, and the quest for power has no morality, it is morality.
I have to admit I was suspect when I first saw this movie come out. I was like "Batman versus Superman...that seems like a no contest." Superman is superman, all-powerful, virtually unstoppable, and the protector of mankind. Batman is just a rich man with a protective suite, with tons of cool gadgets to give him an upperhand. He certainly cannot kill Superman...unless one of his gadgets includes Kryptonite. Now we got a movie folks.
There is a scene in the movie where Lois Lane is in some hostile country getting a story from the leader of a group of rebels. The rebels are very strict on the circumstances of the meeting. Their location cannot be known, and the contents of Lane's crew are inspected to assure they are not being tracked. Along with Lane is a CIA agent who poses as a cameraman for the paper. He is sniffed out, and Lois is in grave danger. BUT who is ever really in danger when you are loved and protected basically by a god. Superman makes short work of the threat, but his action of killing the threat to Lois is put under scrutiny. If Superman can make moral judgements, he must be held accountable for them...right?
Well Batman certainly thinks so. He didn't need much convincing from Luther that Superman needed to go. Bruce Wayne already has a bad taste in his mouth when the Kryponians came to duke it out on Earth a few years earlier. No one could stop them, and during their battling, innocent people were killed who had no beef with Kryptonians. Superman who does not live under the morality of humankind, does not need to be the protector, judge, and administrator of justice, and certainly is not the standard of morality in Wayne's mind.
Which leds to Luther's dialog, "if God is all-powerful, then he cannot be all good." Or "if God is all-good he cannot be all-powerful." Get rid of God and what else is in your way?
Nietzche did just that. He felt that the enlightment removed the concept of God.
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"
— Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125
Nietzche argued that morality came from our conquest for power. The code of conduct that we live by was established by a master-slave relationship. Those in power felt they were morally just because they were benifitted with all the luxuries of being in control. Those who were enslaved saw that the character of those in control were morally wrong and evil. Morality was based on perspective and this cannot be truth, because morality shouldn't shift based on social-economic circumstances, it should be universal.
Nietzche argued that morality defined from certain criteria is not true morality. There are two components that establish morality. There is the Description Component and the Normative Component. There are three criteria that would make morality false in the description sense according to Nietzche.
- Humans have free will
- Humans are self-aware and can distiguish actions from motives
- One morality fits all
- If humans lacked free-will then they are not responsible for their actions
- If motives could not be distiguished then they could not be evaluated
- Universal morality would not vary based on perspective
The first point is obvious, if we don't have free-will, then our moral code is not human defined. The second point requires a bit of reflection. Let's say we don't use a human agent, but something else. Does a toaster know it's a toaster? Does a number know that it is a number? When 25 asks the neighbor "Who are you, would the next number know well enough "I'm 26."
We are self-aware, we do know our existence, but according to Nietzche our will and motivation seeks power above everything else, and the quest for power has no morality, it is morality.
Author: admin
Obviously my interests include philosophy. I think thinking and thought are the beginning of every great thing. It’s how we understand and perceive the world. Periodically I’ll change things up and blog about something math or computer science related or even a blog about mythology. I am not political, trendy, or savvy, but I do like a good story. That is why I try and find a movie clip that hints or encompasses what I want to blog about. Sometimes the relevance is there, sometimes it’s a reach and I just really love the movie that I put in the post. The intent and purpose of my blog is to make you think, make me think and together our thoughts can be shared in a collection of material.