Jenine Bernadette S.

Gata
4BES1
CRIMSON TIDE
The Captain and the EX-O who both were under the same naval ship
which is the USS Alabama because of being tasked to protect their country
against possible nuclear attack. Capt. Frank Ramsey and Lt. Commander Rob
Hunter had undergone conflicts because of their differences when it comes
to deciding matters inside the ship. There is a huge conflict in power and
doing things in accordance to what is right. This matter of argument cannot
be taken easily, it cannot be judged as it is because in this kind of situation
you need to further understand the purpose and the true nature of what is
being tackled about. The Captain here is a person who decide based on the
given fact, he acts according to what the law states and he tends to be an
objective, straight forward person, as for the EX-O he is a person who thinks
beyond what is stated, he tends to break the rules for the betterment of the
people around him. He thinks first before making action towards something.
The contradiction between the legal principle and the moral principle starts
in the scene where the Captain, the XO and the other official of the ship are
having there afternoon tea, they discussing about the bombing that
happened in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, for the Captain if he was asked about
the bombing in Japan, he would approve it and tell them to drop it twice but
for the XO, he is on the other side not only that they have different
interpretation when it comes to the meaning of the quote by Von Clausewitz.
The Captain here quoted what Von Clausewitz says and he said War is a

continuation of politics by other means, and because of that the EX-O, Mr.
Hunter replied by saying that the true purpose of war is, to serve a political
end but the true nature of war is to serve itself. The EX-O replied to this by
saying that the true enemy cannot be destroyed and that the true enemy is
war itself here we can already see that there a big difference between the
way of thinking of the Captain Ramsey and EX-O Hunter and how they see
and perceived the things around them. This movie also showcases the huge
gap between those people who are eager to find to find solution and those
people who are things because of the spur of the moment. Here is just shows
that the Captain is acting towards justifying the circumstances, he is acting
in the fulfillment of his duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or a law. For
the XO he is acting in a way that would benefit of others because he believes
that having a drill during that time will make no good to the people inside the
ship.
As far as the ignorance is concerned here, both Captain Ramsey and
the EX-O Hunter contributed different kind of ignorance here and knowingly
those ignorance added fuel to the conflict that the Captain and the XO is
experiencing. A great example of this is the when the Captain displayed the
invincible ignorance, it is shown when the captain disregard the last part of
message in the Emergency Action Message (EAM) because a problem
occurred in the radio transmitter signal that caused the disruption of the
message being sent to them. Here the Captain did followed what he thinks is
right and he didnt even bother listen to that side of the EX-O and his

explanation. What he did was he acted on the thing that he believes is right
and just but even with doubt if whether his plan is going to be successful or
not he still insisted that his will be done. Due to his belief that he must follow
the legal rule of the military and he believes that it is the only thing to do
without thinking if other people will get hurt and nothing is more important
than that, the Captain said that order received without authentication, is no
order at all. He stood still on sticking to the law because he followed the
rule that if theres no new command he said that would repel the old rule
then theres no way for him to break the law On the other hand, for the part
of EX-O Hunter, he shows signs that he is experiencing vincible ignorance
first by believing that the true enemy of war is war itself and second is by
the way of responding to the command being given by the Captain, he
resisted and told the Captain that what he is doing will bring them all to their
thumbs fast, he created a mutiny which equates to the act of violence, he
failed to comply to the command of the Captain and that make him took a
stand and fight against the Captain and that is where the mutiny started. He
knows that if he continue to be on the side of the Captain in firing the missile
it could create a Nuclear Holocaust that could lead to a big war that could
get them all killed. He did not want to spare the lives of the people who are
in the sheep with him but he would rather want them to be alive and safe so
that they could go back to their familys once there mission is completed.
The shift of ignorance happened when the EX-O shifted from vincible
to invincible when he insisted to wait for the completion of the Emergency

Alert Message (EAM) before acting in accordance to the will of Captain

Ramsey he had the desire to prove his hypothesis that is why he insisted his
claims even though he is in the situation where uncertainties is very present.
He might be wrong or right about the missile but his desire fueled him to
make a stand towards the Captain.
The closing of the Hatch in terms of Utilitarianism is morally justified.
When the EX-O ordered for the closure of the hatch at first he was trouble
because there were three men still working there but then closure of the
hatch would mean he could save the life of more than three people, those
other marines who are working in the ship. He could save them if he would
pursue in closing the hatch. Also it can undergo the double-effect because of
the nature-of-the-act and the right-intention condition, because first in the
nature of the act, if they close the hatch it is morally good because it will
spare the lives of the other marines. The intention here is to prevent the
flooding and also prevent the submarine from total distraction because if
they will not close the hatch at the earliest time possible they will sink
together and will all die together because they will hit the sea floor and there
machines wont be fixed because of the water that have entered the
submarine. The ethical decision here is supported by the utilitarian
calculation made by the EX-O when he though b For Thomism approach the
closing of the hatch is also an immoral act because there is a conflict
between faith and reason, the EX-O believes that they will not survive if he
will not command the closure of the hatch.

On pointing a gun, Weps first disagree with the idea of firing the
missile but because of fear that if he will not follow the Captains order it will
cause him his family he finally agreed. The result of his action was because
of fear. Based on the Thomism approach he is doing it morally because he
acted based on his faith and reasoning because he knows that if he fire that
missile it will cause lives of their men.