Caleb Davenport section 13: Brains for Philosophy.

Caleb Davenport

Section 13 group 4

Final Report

Brains for Philosophy

Most people believe in a simple philosophy of treating others fairly, not stealing, and not killing. We live by these few moralities not only for the reason that two of them are laws, but also because it is beneficial for everyone to follow them for a well-functioning society. Is this our current way of life, or is it something that has been programmed inside of us since the beginning of civilization? If the world was in a zombie apocalypse where there was no electricity, no easily accessible food, and no law, we could be sure that our world would be completely different, but would our philosophical way of life change?

First, treating others fairly will be a very difficult thing to do in a zombie apocalypse considering it is already a challenge in today’s society. A zombie apocalypse would put a great deal of stress on those trying to survive, and the will to survive would haze one’s mind and make people not think clearly. Humans handle stress differently. Some people do nothing, some physically fight, and others are deceitful. Most people are going to be wary when they come across another human because instead of it being an everyday thing it is going to be a rarity. Also, the person(s) someone comes across is probably going to need supplies or shelter to help them survive. Basically it is survival of the fittest and not many people are going to want to help anyone else unless it is beneficial for them. They want to live more and take care of their own, and it is much harder to take care of someone else outside of what a person has supplies for.

A shortage of supplies would also cause stealing. It is normal to think of stealing as wrong in the way we live now, but in a world with no jobs or running stores, we cannot really treat stealing the same as we did before. Going into a store and raiding all of their food during a zombie apocalypse cannot be considered stealing because the store isn't in business anymore. This also stands when talking about stealing from empty houses; there may be people living in them, but most likely the families that used to live at the house are dead. These types of theft would no longer be thought of as stealing but rather as a necessary act for survival. Although, stealing from other groups of survivors will still probably be viewed by most people as immoral, this does not mean that it will not happen. In fact, stealing from others will become more common because most all of the supplies from the store will have already been taken by other groups.

In our society it is generally accepted that killing is wrong, but would killing be okay in a zombie apocalypse? I cannot see how killing another human without a probable cause will ever really be “okay”, but in a world that has been turned upside down where it is an everyday struggle just to stay alive I believe there would be many more justified and unjustified killings.

Some of the reasons for justified slayings during a zombie apocalypse can be rooted to numerous things like someone becoming infected or someone being a serious threat. There are also circumstances that could be up for debate on what is considered justified and unjustified such as killing because of competition for food, someone trying to force themselves into a person’s group, or accidentally mistaking someone for a zombie. Some examples of unjustified murders are killing off the weakest link, murdering for supplies, and, just like the present, straight up murder.

Another conflict would be killing a zombie. The dictionary states that a zombie is “the body of a dead person given the semblance of life but mute and will-less, by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose.” This definition dehumanizes zombies, but would it really be that simple to kill a zombie? They were human so could it not still have a trace of humanity left no matter how buried it is? I’m sure after a few tried to bite your face off that killing would become easier, but would the dreadful feeling of killing something that seems so human ever truly go away? People would also have a major conflict if the zombie was their mother, father, sibling, spouse, etc. Would killing one of them be justified if they were a zombie? If the theoretical acceptance that zombies are only controlled by a small part of their brain that makes them able to move and gives them the hunger to kill holds true, then killing them would be perfectly acceptable. If there was a slight chance of humanity, which some people would choose to hope for, that would make the killings unjustified because there was a way to prevent their deaths.

In conclusion, if the world was in a zombie apocalypse then our philosophical ways of life would definitely change. People would have to create and adapt to a new way of life because with so much emotional wreckage and the constant fighting to survive, people will have a hard time trying to save their humanity.

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