Death Note: The Moral Stance of L, Near and Light on Crime
Death Note explores profound philosophical and moral questions that often go unrecognized by the fans of the show. The deuteragonists L and Near, have quite a lot of similarities, and it does add up in the end since Near’s fight for justice, and his ideals follow the same path that L has laid for years. The antagonist Light has a firm, confrontational and intolerant view on crime and criminals. He is a brilliant student with a very bright future ahead of him, but all of that changes when he gets the Death Note. It would not be wrong to presume that Light Yagami had bad intentions when he started dishing out justice to criminals. In the beginning, we watch him save a girl. In a situation that is desperate, which needs immediate on the spot action to save a life, it seems justifiable and morally permissible that he uses the Death Note. But according to Kantian philosophy of morality, it is always the intention or goodwill that counts in determining the moral worth of an action. Con...