Zombie Research Society
Occasionally we receive a wonderful survival book that would be incredibly useful during the inevitable zombie apocalypse; full of brilliant philosophy, observations, and advice. The only caveat is that you should really read it before the dead start to walk the earth. Because no one wants to struggle with morality, virtue, or ethics while staring down the barrel of a gun!
Such a library of “pre-apocalyptic primers” should definitely include An Ethical Guidebook to the Zombie Apocalypse: How to Keep Your Brain without Losing Your Heart from the author, Academic Dean of the College of Contemporary Liberal Studies, and Professor of Liberal Arts, Bryan Hall. His talent for engaging the reader, while also presenting a basic course on ethics, is on full display here! And it most certainly deserves a space next to other inspired works by our official Advisory Board members including both World War Z and The Zombie Autopsies.
Like those classic works of zombie literature, An Ethical Guidebook to the Zombie Apocalypse presents a fictional narrative of the zombie apocalypse. The introduction immediately thrusts the reader into a post-apocalyptic mindset by suggesting this manuscript was “found at the epicenter of one of the largest viral burnouts in North America where enormous hordes of the undead converged for final death.” There are a number of first-hand accounts, illustrations, and even a map that help to expand the world itself and create a fascinating mythology.
But this chronicle of the zombie apocalypse doesn’t attempt to obfuscate or hide it’s true purpose, which is to provide a fun and engaging introduction to ethical theory and practice. In fact, Bryan Hall manages to walk the line between fiction and philosophy so well, that this book is most certainly guaranteed to please both zombie fans and students alike!
Written entirely from the perspective of someone struggling to stay alive in a world overrun by zombies, each chapter uses graphic art and stories from this world to illustrate different ethical problems. Covering major thinkers such as Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill, this is an introduction to ethics like no other. Here is a practical guidebook for surviving the zombie apocalypse with your humanity intact. From it you will find out why moral reasoning matters as long as you still walk among the living.
Bryan Hall’s approach to ethics depends heavily on the ideas of Immanuel Kant, as illustrated by two of his previously published books; The Arguments of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and The Post-Critical Kant. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the very first chapter seeks to shift ethics from an objective truth like “divine command theory” to something more nebulous and individualistic like “human flourishing”. But perhaps the inevitable zombie apocalypse isn’t the right time or place to discuss, dissect, and debate “theologia Crucis” and “theologia gloriae”.
In that respect, An Ethical Guidebook to the Zombie Apocalypse manages to brush-away a number of ethical debates that could easily muddy the waters, and instead presents readers with an introductory education to Ethics 101 that prefers to focus on the real task at hand; surviving a zombie apocalypse! It offers up “real world” situations and ethical dilemmas in a way that makes philosophy, ideology, and morality more immediate, urgent, and compelling.
One interesting decision on the author’s part was to incorporate the concept of an “evolving” zombie; from something like wild-animals to rational, almost-telepathic undead. While this progression mirrors that of our dearly-departed friend and Advisory Board member George Romero, it appears to serve no purpose other than presenting more melodramatic ethical dilemmas to ponder. Of course this is intentional, and was made perfectly clear during an interview with The Colorado Sun in which Hall refers to the zombies as “furniture” explaining that the undead are only there “to serve certain philosophical needs within the book itself…”
Another issue briefly explored in the book are the cultural, national, and political justifications for border enforcement during a contagious viral epidemic. Although Bryan Hall himself seemed especially reluctant to draw the comparison during a recent interview, he quotes the fictitious Mexican President Mentemuro as saying “When they send their zombies, they’re not sending their best.” It’s a clear reference to President Trump, obviously intended to “flip the script” in our dangerous and highly-charged political environment. But even this ham-fisted innuendo seems relevant considering the deadly coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the globe. Perhaps such implications are more significant than even the author intended!
Overall, An Ethical Guidebook to the Zombie Apocalypse is a wonderfully engaging primer for students of philosophy, while also serving as a fascinating fiction novel for fans of the zombie genre. The ethical principals are firmly based in Kantianism, but often offer post-apocalyptic scenarios that would challenge even your most deeply held beliefs, and that’s a good thing! Because you should always be prepared and as we say; what you don’t know can eat you.
Bryan Hall will be a featured guest at the Far West Popular and American Culture Association Conference in Las Vegas, taking place February 21st to the 23rd, and the National Popular and American Culture Association Conference in Philadelphia, April 15th – 18th. You can also purchase his new book An Ethical Guidebook to the Zombie Apocalypse: How to Keep Your Brain without Losing Your Heart directly from the publisher online at Bloomsbury, or simply by visiting Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore – it’s certainly worth the effort!