Save the Zombie or Save Yourself?

In the movie I am Legend (2007), starring Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, people all around the world have become infected with zombie like symptoms causing them to attack and eat other human beings.  These zombies are unique because they still have a heartbeat. This means that there is still hope of finding a cure to

bring them back to normal. The infection started in New York City and is referred to as Ground Zero. Robert Neville takes it upon himself to find a cure for those who have become infected. Throughout the movie it is assumed that he is the only one left on earth that is not infected. He lives in the heart if ground zero with a fortified home including; explosives, barricades, food, water, electricity, and guns. His basement includes a hospital like setting with medicine, surgical tools, sterile equipment and computers. Down here is where Robert Neville performs all his experiments and tests for different vaccines he believes could be used to cure those infected. His basement also contains infected rats held in cages in which he uses for animal testing. When he finds a vaccine that shows signs of curing, he then must perform human trials. He must find a nest of zombies during the day because the zombies are harmed by Ultra Violet rays. He captures and knocks out a young female zombie and takes her back to his basement for testing. Not knowing at the time, the female he had taken has a mate in which will stop at nothing to find her. For safety purposes, he handcuffs her to the gurney and puts her in a holding room which locks from the outside. He takes the vaccine that appeared to work on the rat and tries it on the zombie. Because the body temperature of the zombie was so high, the vaccine not only killed the virus but it also killed the host. He then realizes this and uses ice to cool down the body temperature in order to make the vaccine more effective.

However, Robert is too late when zombies, including the females mate, find his home and break in looking for his love. Before dying, Robert Neville Takes a vial of her blood, which contains the cure in hope of saving the human race.

Dr. Robert Neville was brave enough to put his life on the line and take the Kantian approach in order to save the human race from extinction. He was forced with life changing decisions that may have killed him in the end, but save millions of lives. This selfless act shows that even through the toughest of times, say a zombie apocalypse, people still have goodness in their heart. Even though this movie is very fictional is does a great job interpreting the Kantian approach in the situations that Dr. Robert Neville is faced with.

From an ethical standpoint, Neville’s self sacrifice was for the greater good. Even though looking for the greater good for society is a utilitarian principle (Salazar,1393), his selfless actions of finding a cure to save all of mankind was over all very Kantian. He decided that the only way to preserve his work and the cure was to kill himself and the zombies attacking him. His mindset was to find away to fix and cure the infected humans so that life can go back to normal.

At the end of the movie, someone takes Robert Neville’s cure and brings it to a refugee camp in Vermont. There is research and all the time spent alone in New York City had paid off. Robert Neville’s Selfless act has not gone unnoticed and he becomes a legend by taking a Kantian approach.




Reference:
Salazar, Heather. "Self-Interest," The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Series on Ethics and Morality, ed. by Robert Fastiggi. Gale Centage Learning, 2013