Warfare ethics in Sunzi's art of war? Historical controversies and contemporary perspectives

Ping Cheung Lo

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Contemporary English and Chinese scholars alike have interpreted Sunzi's Art of War as advocating amoralism in warfare. That charge has a long history in pre-modern China and has not been fully refuted. This essay argues that the alleged amoral Machiavellianism is more appropriate for ancient Qin military thought than for Sunzi. The third chapter of Sunzi's treatise contains a distinctive moral perspective that cannot be found in the military thought of the state of Qin, which succeeded in defeating all other states in the Period of the Warring States. Such a moral perspective contains both ad bellum and in bello norms. I submit that my interpretation of Sunzi's warfare ethics can provide an important resource for the People's Liberation Army of China to construct full-scale just war ethics that is similar to Western understandings.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationChinese just war ethics: Origin, development, and dissent
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Pages66-89
Number of pages24
ISBN (Electronic)9781315740706
ISBN (Print)9781138824355
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Publication series

NameWar, conflict and ethics
PublisherTaylor & Francis

User-Defined Keywords

  • amoral realism
  • Art of War
  • Clausewitz
  • Henry Sidgwick
  • last resort
  • Machiavellianism
  • Michael I. Handel
  • Michael Walzer
  • People's Liberation Army (PLA)
  • proportionality
  • Shang Yang
  • Sunzi (Sun Tzu)

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