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The Art of War, an ancient military treatise written by Sun Tzu, is composed of thirteen chapters detailing strategies for war ranging from simply laying plans to the extensive use of fire and spies against one's enemies. For centuries, it has been regarded as the definite reading for military strategists, enthusiasts, and warriors of all nature.

It's readings have been taken and adapted to seemingly unrelated fields, such as business, and has influenced great leaders and military men such as Napoleon Bonaparte and General Douglas MacArthur.

My question is this: Since being written in ancient China, there have been many important advances in the technology of war, such as the invention of gunpowder, as well as many important militaristic events that may have influenced the world's views on war, such as the Mongol invasion and World War II. Because of these things, are there any more recent treatises or developments on the philosophy of war that military enthusiasts and strategists should consider?

Joseph Weissman
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Edward Black
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  • Being only familiar with the Art of War through the lens of popular media, I'm interested in knowing what you consider to be his _philosophy_ of war as opposed to simply his _strategies_. – Ben Hocking Jun 09 '11 at 20:17
  • @Ben I would argue that strategies can be categorized as part of philosophy, due to philosophy being the study of logic and rational thought. – Edward Black Jun 09 '11 at 20:21
  • @Edward Black: fair enough. – Ben Hocking Jun 09 '11 at 20:30
  • +1 for wondering if The Art of war has any place in Philosophy, never trying implies never knowing. – jimjim Jun 09 '11 at 22:49
  • Being from a non-philosophical military background, I'm not sure what do you mean by Philosophy of War. For us, (for soldiers) it means whether you want to keep less tanks of excellent quality like NAZIS or would you rather prefer to have more tanks of mediocre quality like WW2 USA. For us philosophy means things like our convictions regarding collateral damage. Apologies if that sounds absurd to you guys. – Prateek Mishra Jun 10 '11 at 14:45
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    This question seems to use "Philosophy of X" as synonymous with "Approach to or theory of X." It doesn't seem to me to be philosophy as I take it. Hence, I vote to close. – vanden Jun 12 '11 at 02:17
  • @Vanden Except this question doesn't take "Philosophy of X" as synonymous to "Approach to or theory of X". Sure, the Philosophy of something can include the approach or theory of it, but in this case it is not limited to only that information. – Edward Black Jun 12 '11 at 06:48
  • Vote to close, the question to too vague – Joseph Weissman Jun 14 '11 at 01:56
  • @Joe Care to explain how you came to that conclusion? – Edward Black Jun 14 '11 at 02:41
  • The question is very broad, but in particular it fits into an undesirable question-pattern asking after *any* concepts or works similar to another work – Joseph Weissman Jun 14 '11 at 02:45
  • @Joe Except, I didn't ask for _any_, I asked for _recent_, nor did I ask for anything similar to anything else, except for the requirement that it be related to war at all. – Edward Black Jun 14 '11 at 02:48
  • It is still extremely broad. It's also not a practical question: "are there any recent developments in the philosophy of war?" is just too open-ended a formulation for me. – Joseph Weissman Jun 14 '11 at 02:50
  • @Edward, this is certainly an interesting question and the answers are good. But we've got to draw the line somewhere. I'm going to be closing several of my own more casual questions in the hopes that we can make it out of private beta. – Joseph Weissman Jun 14 '11 at 02:55
  • @Joe Well I just thought I ought to ask why you thought it was vague, considering it has two really good answers, albeit only one of them is accepted. Just curious, that's all. – Edward Black Jun 14 '11 at 02:58
  • @Edward, I apologize. "Vague" was probably not a very precise word to use with respect to this question. I do think it is somewhat more general than is ideal. – Joseph Weissman Jun 14 '11 at 03:00
  • According to Bertrand Russell, most wars of colonization are justifiable, especially when the victor takes civilization to a great height. By this standard, the Roman Empire and the British Empire were totally justified. However, Israeli occupation of Palestine is not justifiable because both the Jews and the Palestinians are from the same Semitic stock and both follow an Abraham religion; both were recent descendent of pastoral people, thus it is a war between Tweedledum and Tweedledee. – George Chen Mar 10 '18 at 17:32
  • Invading another country is totally justifiable if you are on a much higher plane of civilization. It follows that if you want to invade another country, you need to raise your civilization to a much higher plane, and the invaded is a genetically hopeless brood. See Russell's [The Ethics of War](http://fair-use.org/international-journal-of-ethics/1915/01/the-ethics-of-war). – George Chen Mar 11 '18 at 22:27
  • By this standard, WW 1 is totally unjustifiable, because it was a civil war between the world's most civilized nations. WW 2 is not justifiable either because Hitler's madness will pass in due time and Germans will continue to be Germans, that is to say, reason-able, and Brits will continue to be Brits - they were recent descendants of the same stock after all. With the benefit of hindsight, the world could have suffered a lot less if the Brits had surrendered in 1939. – George Chen Mar 11 '18 at 22:31
  • Here is a curious fact: when Hitler was mad, Russell said Germany needed to be restrained by force; when India was mad in 1962, Russell advised China to compromise hoping that India's madness should pass. From these judgements, we can infer that Russell had learned something from experience. – George Chen Mar 12 '18 at 00:01
  • Back at that time, India had democracy, rail roads and parliaments, etc. China, on the other hand, was in the deep of a great famine; there was nothing on the Chinese side indicating that China was on a higher plane of civilization. – George Chen Mar 12 '18 at 00:07
  • Now overwhelming evidence indicates that India is reasserting its place in the world in spite of all the good things made ready and handed out to them by the Brits. – George Chen Mar 12 '18 at 02:58
  • Humanity hasn't changed, so the book doesn't need any revisions. – Scott Rowe Nov 17 '22 at 19:09

5 Answers5

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There are definitely parts of the Art of War that can lay claim to being philosophy in some sense. This includes such things as much of chapter 1, which explains the reasons behind waging war.

There are also statements like "Know thy enemy" that may be sorted under philosophy at least in a wider sense. (Actual quote a bit longer: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.")

As to the actual question, how the philosophy of war has changed, I can only offer my own opinions, as I don't know of any modern book on the philosophy of war and in any case I would suspect it has changed quite a lot during the last half-century so books may be outdated. :-)

Sun Tze makes recommendations on when you can gain from war. These recommendations made sense in a relatively low-tech society. 2000 years ago a ruler needed not only the economic gains you can get from trade, but also the resources and manpower to defend himself, which required a large area any many people to rule over.

Today, both as a result of the improved trade gains you can get from todays fast and global transportation, the developments in sanitation and health care that makes cities of millions possible, and as a result of the developments in weaponry that makes war a slaughterhouse, it is no longer possible to gain economically from making war. Trade will always be a better option than war, and you no longer need to rule over large areas to rule over many.

The reasons of war have therefore changed, and is now no longer about gaining economic advantages. Except for defense, war is now only waged either to fight injustices or gaining political advantages by looking like you fight injustices. So this has changed.

Sun Tze also, again reasonably from the ancient viewpoint, recommend that you pillage your enemy. "One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own." This philosophy changed when it was clear that crushing and punishing Germany after the War only had negative outcomes. Instead armies today have orders to treat the local population well, and after winning a war the victor is seen to have not only the moral obligation to help rebuild the country, but also an obligation to make friends with the enemy to build on future close relations to prevent future war and increase future trade.

There may be more examples, but this IMO are two examples of how the Philosophy of war has changed.

Lennart Regebro
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  • Oh, there are *tons* of modern books on the ethics/philosophy of war. But most of them come from the realm of critical theory, and 99.9% of them are staunchly anti-war. Also consider the entire sub-specialty of international relations theory: realism, Marxism, neo-Gramscianism, constructivism, nation-building, postcolonialism, etc. etc. etc. – Cody Gray - on strike Jun 10 '11 at 10:25
  • @Cody: Yeah, I don't count the anti-war ones. I'm sure there are books on the Philosphy of war as well, but I don't know any of them. (Except the US Military report mentioned in Men Staring at Goats. ;) ) – Lennart Regebro Jun 10 '11 at 10:32
  • Pillaging the enemey is not the same as crushing everything on sight on Chapter 3. 1. `Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.` – Lie Ryan Jun 11 '11 at 04:57
  • @Lie: Right, because you want to use the country as a new source for more soldiers, so you shouldn't crush it. This is somewhat similar to todays view of rebuilding the country. But the pillaging part stands. Sun Tzu recommends pillaging, today it is seen as bad. – Lennart Regebro Jun 11 '11 at 08:09
  • Everyone has something to sell. A major function of modern war is to consume industrial surplus, thus pillaging the enemy will ruin domestic industry. In the same spirit, hard work is no longer a virtue because a little good is better than a lot of harm. – George Chen Mar 12 '18 at 16:28
  • Armies today plunder their own people in the form of military-industrial complex. If the same resources, both human and material, are diverted to consumer goods, all industrialized countries can provide their entire population with food, clothing, housing and transportation for free. – George Chen Mar 12 '18 at 18:47
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I think that one of the biggest changes in war came with the apparent end of conventional warfare after the Gulf War. It is simply unreasonable for almost any state (a few exceptions, perhaps, but not so many) to expect to confront NATO in so-called 'conventional' ways and be successful. The Art of War speaks at great length of how generals should command, Sun Tzu even mentions that "All war is based on deception." But he took this only insofar as to attack when your enemy thinks you are weak, and to appear strong even when you are weak so as to discourage attack (Baden Powell truly embodied this in the Battle of Mafeking, which also led to the development of the Boy Scout Movement).

Yet modern forms of deception are far more complicated, and warfare conducted in ways that appear far less ordered, than ever before. I think that some of the seminal works now would include On Guerilla Warfare, by Mao Tse-Tung, and Urban Warfare.

These include some philosophy, some straight-up strategy and tactics, and some ideology. With the current trends in combat ranging from conventional to highly asymmetric, I think that these texts should also be included.

davidlowryduda
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Clausewitz's "On War" (1832) is a classic book of strategy inspired by the Napoleonic wars.

Machiavelli's "The Prince" though usually considered a political document, also discusses warfare.

Both of these, just like "The Art of War", are primarily about non-philosophical matters, but contain still quite a bit of commentary that is philosophical.

So these are simply two post-Middle Ages, Western documents. As others have noted, there is a proliferation of modern writing on the subject, but none that stand out as classics like the above two.

Mitch
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Many of the points in Sun Tzu's are very relevant even in modern warfare.

Here are a few examples of quotes that can never die:

Chapter 2.
5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never 
   been seen associated with long delays.
6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
...
19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

Sun Tzu recognizes that war should end as soon as possible, it is still true today. American invasions to Iraq costs the nation billions that wouldn't have been incurred if the war progressed swiftly.

Chapter 2.
9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the 
   army will have food enough for its needs.

American "foraged" oil from Iraq.

Now, there are also parts that are outdated in today's modern world, such as this examples about chariot fights:

Chapter 2.
17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been 
    taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should 
    be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used 
    in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and 
    kept.

However, if you fete out the chariots, there are the abstract notion of rewarding soldiers, symbolic flag gestures, and how to treat captured enemies; all are still relevant in modern warfare.

Some are also outdated due to technological advances, sieging a walled city has been much easier since the invention of cannons and modern missiles makes sieges more reasonable than ever:

Chapter 3.
4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. 
   The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of 
   war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over 
   against the walls will take three months more.

Some are less relevant now that the primary means of warfare is no longer foot soldiers/infantries. But infantries still are an important part of modern warfare.

Chapter 6.
1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the 
   enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has 
   to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

We can't just send a bunch of missiles and hope to win the war.

On the other hand, some strategems are becoming even more important in modern warfare:

Chapter 13.
4. Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and 
   conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.
5. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be 
   obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.
6. Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men.

Spying plays a much more important roles in modern warfare than it ever were.

Sun Tzu recognizes the importance of being able to read the "ground" and how to best handle them:

Chapter 11.
46. Therefore, on dispersive ground, I would inspire my men with unity of purpose. 
    On facile ground, I would see that there is close connection between all parts 
    of my army.
47. On contentious ground, I would hurry up my rear.
48. On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my defenses. On ground of 
    intersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances.
49. On serious ground, I would try to ensure a continuous stream of supplies. On 
    difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the road.
50. On hemmed-in ground, I would block any way of retreat. On desperate ground, I 
    would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving their lives.

While some values might have changed since the time of Sun Tzu, there are many general directions that are ageless.

Lie Ryan
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Art of war tried to come up with something that (if ever) could be considered as strategies to use in war, but these a days any fast super computer with sufficient data would easyly overcome any and all strategies that could be fathomed and articulated and even maybe understood by inferior human language and intellect, just like chess the real players are no longer human but machines.

There is no philosophy in the details of how to conduct a war, but just strategies. Art of war was an operational manual in how to conduct war at the age of abacus and arrows, with mechanised snipers that never sleep and never miss a shot Art of war is a good pedesterian intoduction for military enthusists.

There never was/is any philosophy in war itself. Operational research deals with how to maximise the costs to the other side while keeping the cost of doing so minimised.

If there is any philosophy invloved at all, it is about wether to go to war or not, or justification of cost for winning, besides that war is just a game to be played out just like chess.

PS: Most conflicts around the world today are not wars, as by definition of war there should be at least two distinct sides wearing distinct uniforms carrying distinct flags and playing by the rules of what used to be rules of war.

jimjim
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