Journal of Military Ethics 11 (2):114-135 (2012)
| Abstract |
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
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| DOI | 10.1080/15027570.2012.708179 |
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References found in this work BETA
Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations.Barrie Paskins & Michael Walzer - 1981 - Philosophical Quarterly 31 (124):285.
The Ethics of War: Classical and Contemporary Readings.Gregory Reichberg, Henrik Syse & Endre Begby (eds.) - 2006 - Blackwell.
Sanctioned Violence in Early China.Derk Bodde & Mark Edward Lewis - 1992 - Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (4):679.
Knowing Words: Wisdom and Cunning in the Classical Traditions of China and Greece.Lisa Ann Raphals - 1992 - Cornell University Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
The Art of War Corpus and Chinese Just War Ethics Past and Present.Ping-Cheung Lo - 2012 - Journal of Religious Ethics 40 (3):404-446.
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