why didn't batman kill the joker??

After the fabulous review about "THE DARK KNIGHT" by my friend rajiv , i indeed agreed last evening that the movie is simply fantastic .As the movie concluded i ,like others had the million dollar question in my mind "why didn't batman kill the joker??"Even Heath Ledger's joker in The dark knight marvels at batmans refusal to kill him.After all the joker is a murderous psychopath , and Batman could save several innocent lives by ending his miserable existence once and for all.Of couse, there are plenty of masked loonies ready to take the jokers place, but none of them have shown the same twisted devotion to chaos and tragedy as clown prince of crime

Pop culture , such as batman comics and movies provide an oppurtunity to think philosophically about issues and topics that are paralled to real world. For instance thinking about why Batman has never killed the joker may help us reflect on our issues wit terrorism and torture ,specifically their ethics


so what was the reason behind Batman's quandary?? one , while it may be preferable for Joker to be dead, it may not be morally right for any person (like Batman) to kill him. If the joker is to be punished is should be through official procedures ,not vigilante justice.More generally,while the joker is evil , he is still a human being and is thus deserving of at least a minimal level of humanity and respect

two, Does batman want to be the kind of person that takes his enemies lives?? If he killed the joker , would he be able to stop there, or would every two bit thug get the same treatment??

while there are good reasons to kill the joker in terms of innocent lives saved , there are also good reasons not to kill the joker , based on what killing him would mean about batman and his motives mission and character. Batman often says the same thing when asked why he hasn't killed the joker :"I don't want to become that which i hate".

so in one way batman and joker help us focus on key topics like torture terrorism and can only help refine our thinking.And batman would definitely approve of that.....