S.

Aaron Torres

HIST 2001

October 4, 2010

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

Question 1.

Sun Tzu’s strategies are said to be timeless. Discuss

I believe that his strategies are timeless, because you could use Sun Tzu’s ideas for a battle in
ancient times as well as modern combat. I would even go so far as to say that not only are his ideas
timeless, but they can be used in any conflict, no matter the circumstance. This may sound a little
absurd at first because when thinking of combat and war, there are so many variables to consider and so
many things change. Over the years the way wars are fought has changed so much. Not only that but
warfare in the desert is not the same as warfare in the snow or jungle. But Sun Tzu’s ideas, in my
opinion weren’t really that radical because he never talks about specifics. In the excerpt there was
nothing about “how to defeat a mountain fortress, occupied by archers, during the winter.” Instead of
specifics that would only apply to a certain circumstance, I understood his writings were about the
importance of knowledge in conflict, and making logical decisions based upon that knowledge.

For example, he talks about winning wars from the view point of the commander of the army, or
the decision maker. He stresses that there can only be one commander on the battlefield making the
decisions, because too many generals issuing orders will cause confusion and ultimately defeat. So
there need be only one commander and his knowledge of the battlefield and it’s conditions, and his
ability to interpret what the conditions are and how they will affect the battle. The most crucial factor is
the commander’s ability to make wise and logical decisions based upon the conditions.

This means the commander needs to know how the weather is going to affect his soldiers, and
how to use it to his advantage as well as avoid letting it cause him disadvantage. If it rains on the
battlefield, then it may slow down his soldiers and horses. But the commander should also question if it
will it also slow down the enemies forces, and if it slows down both forces, how will that affect battle?
Because Sun Tzu doesn’t dwell on the specifics of how to fight well in the rain when your soldiers are
using horses, but more on knowing the weather conditions and the effects on the army; it doesn’t limit
the wisdom to that specific circumstance. A modern commander who has soldiers using gas powered
weapons, driving combustion engine powered vehicles, fighting in a different climate still should know
how the weather will affect his soldiers and vehicles.

So not only does his wisdom apply to ancient and modern warfare, it also applies to any
situation where you have opposing forces in conflict. Many people say you can take Sun Tzu’s wisdom
and apply it to business. So I think that not only is his wisdom timeless, but also applicable in many
different arenas. It could even be used in a classroom. Say for example you have a student who wants a
good grade, but doesn’t necessarily want to do all the work required for one. On the other hand you
have a professor who wants his students to do all the required work, but may not necessarily give
everyone a good grade. The student could, by being paying close attention to the professor, and gaining
knowledge about how the professor runs his class and grades work. Therefore the student could learn
in what situation he has advantages, and where his disadvantages lie. If the student learns the
professor’s methods, then he/she could, theoretically, apply the most minimal amount of work and
effort to achieve the highest possible grade.

Back to Sun Tzu’s writings, I dare say that a lot of what he wrote down isn’t that radical. It might
even seem like common sense that a good commander should know his troops moral, the conditions of
the roads and it should also go without saying that a general should know his enemies strengths and
weaknesses. But even if his writings weren’t that ideologically ground breaking, they were probably still
necessary or they would not have become so prolific. Why would it be necessary for Sun Tzu to lay out
all of the important things that generals should know in order to make good battlefield decisions?
Probably because there were a lot of generals during that time who didn’t know how to be a good
general, and make logical evaluations of things like costs of war, and the time it takes to move from one
place to another in certain conditions. I dare to speculate that perhaps during Sun Tzu’s time there were
a lot of incompetent generals, probably appointed for various political or other reasons not related to
battlefield experience, that were making terrible decisions. If that was the case, it makes sense that Sun
Tzu’s writings would become a godsend for the politically appointed buffoon that didn’t know the first
thing about how to be a general.

Question 2.

According to Sun Tzu all matters of war is based on deception.

I agree that all warfare is based on deception, but with one caveat: in war, no deception will last forever.
This is because in war, eventually the two opposing forces will make contact and the truth you were
trying to hide will be revealed (unless for some reason the deception causes the enemy to quit fighting
before battle ever takes place). I think the implication in Sun Tzu’s writings is that you should hide your
intentions and any information about your army and any conditions affecting you from the enemy until
you’re ready to act. So if you want to attack your enemy, then you don’t want him to know you’re going
to attack until you’re already attacking. If you’re going to move your soldiers, then you don’t want the
enemy to know until you’ve already moved them. If your goal is to hide your troop strength, then you
don’t want the enemy to know you have a large army until you’ve already overwhelmed him. So if you
think of deception in warfare as having an expiration, then it makes sense that you would want to be
deceitful in all areas of war. It also makes it easier, in this sense, to apply it to other settings, like
business. If you were planning on buying out another business, there would probably be advantages in
keeping your actions a secret while you make preparations, and only announcing the buyout when you
are ready to proceed.