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Utilitarianism In Saving Private Ryan

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Summary of Film: Saving Private Ryan
The film Saving Private Ryan begins with an elderly man and his family visiting a cemetery in Normandy, France. The story then began with a team of soldiers on a mission to locate Private James Ryan who is located somewhere behind enemy lines in Normandy. Private James Ryan has all his brother killed in war and General George Marshall has received orders to locate and bring back this soldier to his mother. The team consisting of 8 men along with a translator was led by Captain John Miller. The team searched high and low for Private Ryan and began questioning themselves about the ethics of this mission which is to sacrifice so much just to save one live. At Neuville, Captain Miller manage to identify a Private Ryan but it is the wrong guy. The team eventually discovers the actual Private …show more content…

Utilitarianism is the ethical theory of whether actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (Rosenstand 264). In comparison to this film, it can be argued that saving Private Ryan would be able to lessen the grief of his mother who has lost 3 other sons. When applying utilitarianism, it seems that this film is violating the Greatest Happiness Principle. Utility itself is defined by Mill as happiness with the absence of pain. The unit that was sent to rescue Private Ryan suffered many casualties and endured great pain. It can also be said that the family members of the 6 casualties will suffer great pain in comparison to just one mother. Also according to Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarianism of using calculation to measure happiness, it just not justify one mother pleasure of having her son back to the 6 mothers who felt the pain of losing their sons. In my own opinion regarding this ethical principle, I agree that it is irresponsible to send more men into a war zone to rescue someone who might be

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