Was that an Ethical Explosion?!

In the remake Dawn of the Dead (2004), a group of people from Wisconsin find shelter from the invading zombie apocalypse in a shopping mall. They plan to leave the shopping mall by bus and take one of the survivor’s boats to a nearby island to escape the zombies. During one of the final scenes of the movie when the survivors are attempting to exit the bus and board the boat, the zombies invade the area around the bus. One of the main characters, a security guard named CJ, gets trapped in the bus with the attacking zombies. CJ ignites a nearby gas tank, which blows up, killing CJ and all of the surrounding zombies that were closing in on the surviving group. Although CJ took his own life, he benefitted the others by saving them from the approaching zombies. Furthermore, CJ would have been bitten and transformed into a zombie if he did not blow up the bus, so he ultimately had no other option in this situation. Both a Utilitarian and a Kantian would support CJ’s action. A Utilitarian would agree with his decision because it benefited the group of survivors as a whole, and prevented the zombies from harming anyone else at that time. A Kantian would also support CJ’s decision because he fulfilled his duty to his friends by saving them and also followed the categorical imperative because in this specific desperate situation CJ’s choice could be applied universally to all people.

Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that argues people should not make decisions based on selfish desires, but for the benefit of society as a whole. “With billions of beings competing for resources, the benefit of the whole requires self-sacrifice” (Salazar, 2). A Utilitarian would support CJ’s choice to sacrifice his own life by blowing up the gas tank that killed many zombies. By destroying the zombies, CJ gave the other surviving members of the group more time to escape to the boat safely. His action was not motivated by self-interest, as it resulted in his own death. His action was solely based off of the interest of the group as a whole, which is exactly what utilitarianism encourages. Utilitarianism also states that each individual is simply one being that can experience pleasure or pain. If CJ did not blow up the gas tank, he would have been bitten by a zombie and transformed into one of the blood-thirsty monsters. By giving up his own life, CJ not only ensured the safety of the other survivors, but prevented himself from becoming a zombie that could potentially harm other surviving humans. Overall, CJ’s decision to explode the gas tank that resulted in his own death and the death of many zombies “substantially impact[ed] the benefits that others received” (Salazar 2). CJ saved the remaining survivors in the group from the zombies, and saved himself from becoming a dangerous zombie as well. Therefore, a utilitarian would support the decision CJ made, as it benefitted the group as a whole and was a selfless action.

Another popular philosophy, Kantianism encourages people to make moral decisions and “do what is right because it is right, and not from self-interest or sympathy” (Salazar, 1). Kant argues that these decisions are driven by an inner force called “good will” which encourages people to fulfill their duties to themselves and others by being respectful and charitable. Furthermore, one form of the categorical imperative, known as the Formula of Universal Law states that one individual’s actions should be favorable universally and the desirable choice for all people to make to benefit the world. Another form of the categorical imperative, known as the Formula for Humanity argues that people should only act in ways to better humanity, and not for selfish desires. A Kantian would support CJ’s choice to sacrifice his own life in order to ensure the safety of the others. CJ “treated others respectfully – as equally worthy” (Salazar, 1) when he put their safety above his own life. The duties that people owe to one another are based on “the most basic and all-pervasive relationship between persons being that of a fellow member of humanity” (Salazar, 3). As a member of humanity, CJ fulfilled his duties to the others by ensuring their safety even at the cost of his own life. This was the moral decision to make because CJ was trapped with the zombies and ultimately knew he was going to die. CJ was not killing any living beings, as the zombies are brain-dead creatures. If CJ had not blown up the zombies, they may have harmed or killed other members of the group. He wanted to save as many other people as possible, and therefore made the choice to sacrifice his own life for the safety of the others. This situation was not a choice of suicide, but rather one of the only choices CJ had that could potentially benefit the survivors. The formula of universal law would support the sacrifice of one person in this despairing type of situation. The “maxim should become a universal law” (Blackburn, p 120) and in this situation it would. Universally, it would be more beneficial for one individual to lose his/her life and kill many zombies than to become a zombie and increase the zombie population. Therefore, if other people around the world were in the same desperate situation as CJ, they too should kill as many zombies as possible along with themselves to potentially save other surviving humans from those zombies. The Formula of Humanity would also support CJ’s choice because his rationality was logical, and not based off of self-desire. CJ chose to explode the gas tank because he knew it would kill many zombies and benefit the others, but this action did not benefit him in any way, and it actually resulted in his death. Therefore, CJ treated humanity “always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means” (Salazar, 9 (Kant, MM 429)) because he was not acting in his own self-interest but for the well-being of the survivors. Overall, Kantianism would support the decision CJ made, as it fulfilled his duty to his surviving friends, and was the moral choice to make in this difficult situation. 

Finally, I agree that CJ made the right choice when he blew up the gas tank that killed himself along with many zombies. Since I justified that both theories would also support CJ’s choice, then both theories must have “got it right!” CJ was in a tough situation when he was surrounded by zombies and only had a few seconds to make a decision. His action was clever and heroic. CJ was smart to blow up the gas tank because it created a huge explosion that also destroyed many zombies. If CJ was only concerned about his own wellbeing, he could have killed only himself using a gun to end his suffering. However, CJ took advantage of the explosive gas tank in order to kill the aggressive zombies and ensure the safety of the rest of the group. This was also heroic because he was fully aware that he was going to die, but unflinchingly blew up the gas tank. Without a doubt, CJ made the moral choice because he saved the other members of the group, even when he was not able to save himself. This shows he cared about the people in the group and wanted what was best for them overall. In conclusion, a Utilitarian, Kantian, and myself all support CJ’s decision to sacrifice himself in order to kill many zombies for the safety and benefit of the group in Dawn of the Dead (2004).

References

Blackburn, Simon. Being Good, A Short Introduction to Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2001

Salazar, Heather. “Self-Interest,” The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Series on Ethics and Morality, ed. by Robert  Fastiggi. Gale Cengage Learning, 2013

Salazar, Heather.“Kantian Business Ethics,” in Business in Ethical Focus, ed. Fritz Allhoff and Anand J. Vaidya. Broadview Press, 2008