Logo Springer ____________________ Submit (BUTTON) Search Options * Advanced Search * Search Help (BUTTON) Search (BUTTON) Menu (BUTTON) Sign up / Log in * Sign up / Log in Institutional / Athens login (BUTTON) English * Deutsch (BUTTON) Academic edition * Corporate edition Skip to: Main content Side column * Home * Contact Us Get Access Find out how to access preview-only content International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique September 2014 Date: 19 Sep 2014 Natural Law and Vengeance: Jurisprudence on the Streets of Gotham * Thomas Giddens * … show all 1 hide Buy now Rent the article at a discount Rent now * Final gross prices may vary according to local VAT. Get Access Abstract Batman is allied with modern natural law in the way he relies upon reason to bring about his vision of ‘true justice’, operating as a force external to law. This vision of justice is a protective one, with Batman existing as a guardian—a force for resistance against the corruption of the state and the failures of the legal system. But alongside his rational means, Batman also employs violence as he moves beyond the boundaries of the civilised state into the dark and violent world outside law’s protection. He thus sacrifices his own safety to ensure the safety of others—he is a Dark Knight, a sentinel, fighting the nasty and brutish underworld of criminality in his effort to bring rational order to the world and protect the people of Gotham from criminal harm. This fight for justice is fuelled by a deeply private trauma: the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents: a private desire for vengeance that Batman transcends. In navigating Batman’s jurisprudential dimensions, we are ultimately reminded that private desires and motivations are enfolded within the public structures of justice. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique Article Metrics Citations Other actions * Export citation * Register for Journal Updates * About This Journal * Reprints and Permissions * Add to Papers Share Share this content on Facebook Share this content on Twitter Share this content on LinkedIn (BUTTON) Related Content loading... (BUTTON) Supplementary Material (0) (BUTTON) References (27) 1. Bainbridge, Jason. 2007. ‘This is the Authority. This planet is under our protection’—An exegesis of superheroes’ interrogations of law. Law, Culture and the Humanities 3: 455–476. CrossRef 2. Comerford, Chris. 2015. The hero we need, not the one we deserve: Vigilantism and the state of exception in Batman Incorporated. In Graphic justice: Intersections of comics and law, ed. Thomas Giddens. London: Routledge. 3. Cover, Robert. 1993. Violence and the word. In Narrative, violence, and the law: The essays of Robert Cover, ed. 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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossRef (BUTTON) About this Article Title Natural Law and Vengeance: Jurisprudence on the Streets of Gotham Journal International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique DOI 10.1007/s11196-014-9392-7 Print ISSN 0952-8059 Online ISSN 1572-8722 Publisher Springer Netherlands Additional Links + Register for Journal Updates + Editorial Board + About This Journal + Manuscript Submission Topics + Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History + Philosophy of Law + Applied Linguistics + Fundamentals of Law Keywords + Batman + Natural law + Violence + Justice/vengeance + Public/private + Resistance Industry Sectors + Law Authors + Thomas Giddens thomas.giddens@smuc.ac.uk ^(1) Author Affiliations + 1. St Mary’s University, Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, London, TW1 4SX, UK [cm_sbs_024_plain.png] Continue reading... 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