Saving Private Ryan

Karl Salting EGR 402 Dolske Saving Private Ryan 1) Why is Captain Miller and his squad sent to rescue Private Ryan? Does the mission make sense? Captain Miller and his squad are sent to rescue Private Ryan because General George Marshall is informed that an Iowa farm wife, who is Private Ryan’s mother, had lost three other sons in war. General Marshall decides to set up a rescue mission to find Private Ryan and return him home safely so they can spare a mother the tragedy of losing all her sons. I believe that the mission makes sense because as Captain Miller states, “Every time you get one of your boys killed you tell yourself you just saved the lives of two, three, ten, maybe a hundred other men and boys.” So in saving Private Ryan’s life the crew was aware of the casualties but the ethical values of the mission outweigh a cost/benefit analysis. 2) What is the moral rationale behind risking eight lives to save one? How does this relate to the Kantian and Utilitarian ethic? The moral rationale behind risking eight lives to save one is portrayed when it is stated that Spielberg chose the ethical position of formalism that treats values as supreme over the more utilitarian approach that favors the greater good. Kantianism states that "good will" is morally praiseworthy. In this case Spielberg places Kantianism over Utilitarianism. 3) Do you think the mission would only be justified if Private Ryan subsequently contributed something outstanding to humanity? I do not think that the mission would only be justified if Private Ryan subsequently contributed something outstanding to humanity. Although I believe he does owe a debt of respect to at least live a respectable life for his comrades in war that sacrificed their lives for him. Something “outstanding” to humanity seems too much to ask for a person that does not live an out of the ordinary life to begin with. Captain Miller said that Private Ryan better cure cancer or in a light bulb that never burns out, or a car that runs on water, but that type of thinking is superficial. Captain Miller does realize the more ultimate reason behind his actions and for the war and that is for a more ethical approach to his way of thinking.

4) Should the squad have attacked the machine-gun nest or bypassed it in order to carry out their primary mission? The squad was right to attack the machine-gun nest because the ethical values in Captain Miller’s decision parallels his advice that I also stated earlier. “Every time you get one of your boys killed you tell yourself you just saved the lives of two, three, ten, maybe a hundred other men and boys.” Captain Miller’s decision to attack was influenced by his way of thinking. If he did not attack the machine-gun nest then the purpose of the whole mission would be lost in regards to ethical reasoning. Saving the lives of as many fellow American soldiers as he can was the definitive result of his actions even though he had to sacrifice a great deal at the moment. 5) When Private Ryan was found, should he have been forced to leave with Miller and his men or were they right to remain and try to stop the German advance? I believe that they were right to remain and try to stop the German advance. Personally, I would have felt guilty for abandoning the men that I served with just so I can go home. Soldiers grow together as close as brothers. They learn to live and die for each other. Even though Captain Miller died in the act of trying to stop the German advance with Private Ryan’s, he died an honorable death which can be praised. Private Ryan said something really meaningful after Captain Miller said that his mother didn’t raise him to lose him. Private Ryan replied, “Well, then, you just tell her when you found me, I was with the only brothers I had left. Tell her that there was no way I was going to desert those brothers. You tell her that…and she’ll understand.” That statement basically sums up the reason why I think that it was right for them to try to stop the German advance.