Anyone can die in a zombie apocalypse. Death is only the
beginning, however, because there is still the chance of infection and possible
zombie proliferation from the corpse. A comrade, a friend, or even a parent
could potentially “turn” and attempt to kill you as one of the undead. It
therefore becomes more important to manage the corpses of the dead rather than
mourn them. Additionally, one needs to control infection rates and ensure that
everyone is healthy. This consideration is especially important in a small
pocket of survivors where the infection/death of one could compromise the
survival of the others. Nowhere is this more evident than in the movie “Shaun
of the Dead”, a 2004 parody of the 1968 classic “Night of the Living Dead.”
Few
human survivors remain in the setting of “Shaun of the Dead.” Most of the human
population has been ravaged by the zombie scourge. The protagonist, Shaun, is
holed-up with remaining survivors in a pub, The Winchester. The doors and
windows have been barricaded and the survivors are killing zombies that are
attempting to break through the barriers. The remaining survivors include
Shaun, Ed (one of Shaun’s friends), David (another one of Shaun’s friends), Liz
(David’s ex-girlfriend), Dianne (one of Ed’s friends), and Barbara (Shaun’s
mother). The survivors are barely holding off the zombie hordes, resorting to David’s
Winchester hunting rifle, Ed’s cricket bat, and Shaun’s shovel. David notices
that Barbara is lying in the corner of the pub and appears ill. He takes his
Winchester and aims it at Barbara. Shaun notices and points a broken beer
bottle at David’s neck. Liz and Ed hold Shaun up with a beer bottle and Dianne
holds Ed up with a corkscrew, resulting in a stand-off. The stand-off is broken
when Barbara rises as a zombie and lunges at David. He shoots her and ends the
tension of the scene. A utilitarian would justify Shaun's behavior as it was
for the best of the community. Barbara would have "zombified"
eventually and threatened the rest of the survivors. Therefore, Shaun's
behavior was for the best as it saved others' lives. A Kantian plausibly would
have decried Shaun's behavior, asserting that Barbara may have not been
infected and that Shaun denied her the right to live and grow as an individual.
A
Utilitarian would justify Shaun’s behavior as he acted in the group’s best
interest. The utilitarian perspective is, as defined by Blackburn in “Being
Good”: “[Utilitarianism] concentrates upon general well-wishing or benevolence,
or solidarity, or identification with
the pleasures and pains or welfare of people as a whole.” (87) Utilitarianism
can simply be described as “the greatest good for the greatest number.” The
philosophy considers the consequences of behavior on a community and assesses
whether or not these consequences favor the community. Deeds that favor the
community are considered “good” from a utilitarian perspective. Shaun’s killing
of his mother in “Shaun of the Dead” would be regarded by a Utilitarian as good
because it helped preserve other people’s lives within the compound. Not
killing Barbara would have threatened the security of everyone else present and
no alternative actions were available. Therefore, killing another human being
is morally justified in this instance.
A
Kantian would consider the act of killing Barbara to be consistent with good
will and therefore decent and not praiseworthy. Kant’s “formula of humanity”
can be applied to this situation. The formula of humanity asserts that every
human must treat every other human with respect to their humanity. Humanity is
equivalent to rationality from Kant’s perspective and therefore the formula of
humanity states that every human must respect other humans’ rationality.
Salazar defines, in “Kantian Business Ethics”, that respecting humans’
rationality “entails, according to this formulation, never treating it as a
mere means and always treating it as an end in itself.” Barbara did not have
rationality as a zombie and has consequently forfeited her humanity. A zombie
is a unique instance that Kant obviously would not have covered in his formula
because a zombie has no human attributes apart from appearance. The zombie’s
mode of cognition is different relative to humans and is stereotypically
depicted as an instinctual drive to consume brains. This behavior is immoral
from a humanistic standpoint and therefore the zombie is no longer acting in
regard to Kant’s categorical imperative or the “formula of universality” which
states: “anything that is inconsistent is illogical and thus irrational and
immoral for Kant.” (Salazar, KBE 6) A zombie is an inherently illogical
creature and is therefore immoral. The zombie Barbara cannot be considered to
be a moral, rational creature and Shaun is thus able to kill her morally.
Shaun’s behavior passes the “formula of universal law” because it is not
deceitful and can be consistently followed for benefit: saving the rest of the
survivors.
Shaun’s
behavior in “Shaun of the Dead” was justified because it ultimately benefitted
the rest of the survivors. Barbara’s transformation into a zombie was an
internal threat to the compound which was already besieged by the zombie horde.
Zombie Barbara at best would have been a distraction and at worst would have
compromised the lives of other survivors. Barbara was Shaun’s mother and
plausibly would have acted like he did. Family ties are irrelevant in this
situation because it concerns self-interest. A zombie knows no concept of family
or love; the ideas are inapt when fighting one. A zombie additionally has no
humanity/rationality and therefore ideas of autonomy and respect fail. A
Utilitarian perspective must be considered and his behavior can be justified
from a Kantian perspective.
REFERENCES:
Blackburn, Simon. Being Good: A Short Introduction to
Ethics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.
Salazar, Heather. “Kantian Business Ethics,” in Business
in Ethical Focus, ed. Fritz Allhoff and Anand J. Vaidya. Broadview Press, 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment