An Ethical Guidebook to the Zombie Apocalypse - by Bryan Hall (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When your base camp is overrun by zombies, whom do you save if you cannot save everyone? Is it permissible to sacrifice one survivor to an undead horde in order to save a greater number of the living? Do you have obligations to loved ones who have turned?

These are some of the troubling ethical questions you might face in a zombie apocalypse. Bryan Hall uses situations like these to creatively introduce the foundational theories of moral philosophy. Covering major thinkers such as Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill, this is an introduction to Ethics like no other: a practical guidebook for surviving a zombie outbreak with your humanity intact. It shows you why moral reasoning matters as long as you still walk among the living.

The book is written entirely from the perspective of someone struggling to survive in a world overrun by the undead. Each chapter begins with graphic art and a "field exercise" that uses a story from this world to illustrate an ethical problem. By considering moral controversies through the unfamiliar context of a zombie apocalypse, the morally irrelevant factors that get in the way of resolving these controversies are removed and you can better answer questions such as:

- Do we have a moral obligation to help those less fortunate than ourselves?
- Is it ever morally permissible to intentionally kill an innocent person?
- Are non-rational but sentient beings morally considerable?

Equipped with further reading sections and overviews of the theories that you would usually cover in an introductory Ethics course, this one-of-a-kind primer critically evaluates different procedures for moral action that you can use not only to survive but flourish in an undead world.

Review Quotes

"[A] wonderfully engaging primer for students of philosophy, while also serving as a fascinating fiction novel for fans of the zombie genre. The ethical principles 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." - Zombie Research Society

"Refusing to break the "fourth wall," this book takes a refreshing approach to otherwise well-traveled material. A welcome addition for anyone seeking to engage the interests and imagination of students while also providing a substantive introduction to ethical theory and practice. Highly recommended." --Robert Smid, Senior Lecturer, Curry College, USA

"A remarkable book, offering a highly engaging and original treatment of core issues in ethics and moral theory using zombie horror conventions. Hall has an excellent grasp of the normative ethical theories and meta-ethical views considered as well as a deep affinity for and familiarity with zombie horror writing. He deftly investigates an impressive range of substantive moral issues that are fruitfully explored by taking this novel approach to thinking about ethics and morality. This book would be a terrific ethics primer for an Introduction to Philosophy course, and it will undoubtedly attract a broader general audience, including horror genre fans." --Anne Margaret Baxley, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

About the Author