Wednesday Wisdom

WHO? 

Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist, writer, and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period, over two thousand years ago. The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown but he rose to the rank of general for the King of Wu, Ho Lu. He is believed to have lived in the late Eastern Zhou period, sometime around the 5th century BCE and was a contemporary of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius. His teachings are most likely a combination of his clan's ideas and his own, but also incorporate early Taoism concepts. Taoism's central construct is that conflicting forces of the Ying and the Yang or good versus evil were omnipresent whether in war or in life. Employing psychology, deceit, power, and diplomacy, Sun Tzu understood force and counterforce from the teachings of Taoism (also called Daoism).

What he produced

"The Art of War" is an ancient Chinese military treatise written by Sun Tzu. The book was originally written for military leaders to advise them on tactics, strategy, and how to win battles. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of military strategy and has been studied and referenced by military leaders, business executives, and others for centuries.

The book contains 13 chapters, each of which covers a different aspect of warfare, such as planning, tactics, and strategy. The text emphasizes the importance of flexibility in the face of changing circumstances, and the value of knowledge, deception, and timing in achieving victory.

"The Art of War" has been widely translated and its principles have been applied to various fields, including business and politics. Despite its ancient origins, its teachings are still relevant today and are widely regarded as timeless.

2023 why do we care?

The title of the book is somewhat deceiving because Sun Tzu openly declares the negative impact of war, especially lasting ones on any nation. In his book, Sun Tzu confides, " There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare. However, he concedes conflict is inevitable and lays out a logic-based process toward victory. He is quoted "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak" as an example of either having a quick victory when strong or avoiding conflict when compromised. He goes on "To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill"

Sun Tzu's book become popular some years ago among corporate executives and wall street traders because of psychological tactics when dealing with competitors and addressing the struggles of conflict. His quote "In the midst of chaos, there is an opportunity" speaks of how calmer heads can prevail. "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors got to war first and seek to win" speaks to the importance of preparation. While the book has influenced military men from Alexander the great, Napolean, Macarthur, and Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, its enduring legacy is the Tao philosophical principle of understanding how the opposing forces of the Ying and the Yang exist in any conflict.

Sun Tzu, like a poker player or a statistician, knew he had to logically calculate the forces for and against at any moment, and like any philosopher he knew "Ponder and Deliberate before you make any move".

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science. 

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses. 

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.