Argumentative Paper
Argumentative Paper
English 102
Argumentative Paper
Randy J. Phelps
Mountain State University
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Greatest Decision of All- “Moral vs. Dictated Decision”
No matter whom you are or what you do, there will come a time in your life when your internal moral conscience will override what you are told or ordered to do. It will be up to you to make that difficult and extremely important decision. As we read in The Hunt for Red October, Captain Ramius finally met that moment, and had to make a decision that would not only change his life, but possibly the lives of his fellow countryman and the world as he knew it.
Ramius was the Captain of a Russian Nuclear Submarine and had just experience a tragedy in his life with the death of his wife. He felt betrayed by the Russian Government, most importantly the Communist Philosophy. It was no secret that Ramius had a different philosophy than that of his father and the country he served. He had kept this to himself until now. Now he had to make a moral decision that could get him and his crew killed. A decision that if pulled off, could give him the life he always believed in. He just had to do one thing, fight and overcome the moral dilemma that stood in front of him. That dilemma was to betray his country or continue living a lie.
Ramius knew that he would have to do some evil in order to do the right thing. This required him to start his defection plan by killing the political officer onboard the submarine. He had to rationalize this in his mind as the right thing to do. He knew that in this case wrong doing was inescapable. According to Haksar, “Some even think that in
English 102
Argumentative Paper
Randy J. Phelps
Mountain State University
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Greatest Decision of All- “Moral vs. Dictated Decision”
No matter whom you are or what you do, there will come a time in your life when your internal moral conscience will override what you are told or ordered to do. It will be up to you to make that difficult and extremely important decision. As we read in The Hunt for Red October, Captain Ramius finally met that moment, and had to make a decision that would not only change his life, but possibly the lives of his fellow countryman and the world as he knew it.
Ramius was the Captain of a Russian Nuclear Submarine and had just experience a tragedy in his life with the death of his wife. He felt betrayed by the Russian Government, most importantly the Communist Philosophy. It was no secret that Ramius had a different philosophy than that of his father and the country he served. He had kept this to himself until now. Now he had to make a moral decision that could get him and his crew killed. A decision that if pulled off, could give him the life he always believed in. He just had to do one thing, fight and overcome the moral dilemma that stood in front of him. That dilemma was to betray his country or continue living a lie.
Ramius knew that he would have to do some evil in order to do the right thing. This required him to start his defection plan by killing the political officer onboard the submarine. He had to rationalize this in his mind as the right thing to do. He knew that in this case wrong doing was inescapable. According to Haksar, “Some even think that in
References: Haksar, V.. (2011). Necessary Evil: Justification, Excuse or Pardon? Criminal Law and Philosophy, 5(3), 333-347. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from ProQuest Criminal Justice. (Document ID: 2455221301). Democracy versus dictatorship: Influence of political regime on economic and social development. Ph.D. dissertation, Georgia State University, United States -- Georgia. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global.(Publication No. AAT 3099283). Institute for war and peace reporting.(n.d.). Retrieved from www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/ bcr3/bcr3_200412_531_5_eng.txt - 60k18k - Nov 16, 2005 Jacob Stockinger The Capital Times. (2005, August 26). THE HUMAN FACTOR IN WWII ; EUROPE CENTRAL BY WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN VIKING 811 PAGES:[ALL Edition]. Madison Capital Times, p.11A. Harbour, F. (2011). REASONABLE PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS AS A MORAL CRITERION IN THE WESTERN JUST WAR TRADITION. Journal of Military Ethics, 10(3), 230. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from ProQuest Criminal Justice. (Document ID: 2477095961). Tom Clancy 's "Hunt for Red October" (2011, October 07). Retrieved October 31, 2011, from http://www.academon.com/Analytical-Essay-Tom-Clancy 's-Hunt-for-Red-October/61986