Professor Georges Van Den Abbeele
Sun-Tzu, Art of War, Ralph Sawyer translation and edition (New York:  Basic Books, 1994), pp. 163-233.

Study Questions: 

1.  Notice the book’s organization as a set of fragmented quotations from the author.  How does this rhetorical structure either support or hinder the work’s argumentative effectiveness?  (P.S.:  You may want to return to this question after working through the others to see if your views have changed after further study.)

2.  What are the five factors for making an “ initial estimation” of the outcome of war?

3.  What is the role of deception in warfare?  How can this insight be reconciled with traditional appeals to honor, glory, and courage?

4.  In what ways does Sun-Tzu address the economic effects of war?  What are the implications for how war should be undertaken?

5.  Why is the “true pinnacle of excellence” equated with “subjugating the enemy’s army without fighting”?

6.  What does Sun-Tzu think about the siege of cities?  What advice would he give Agamemnon and the Achaeans?

7.  What does the “strategic configuration of power (shih)” mean?

8.  The dualism of Taoist thought in Sun-Tzu’s work is evident through the rhetorical deployment of paired opposites, such as unorthodox/orthodox, vacuity/substance, or circuitous/straight.  Explain the use of one such pair and what role that plays in the advancement of the book’s major arguments?

9.  What does the term “ch’i” mean in reference to the organizational spirit of an army?

10.  What is the importance of terrain and environment for the art of war?

11.  What, according to Sun-Tzu, are the most and least desired traits in a leader (or general)?

12.  When is the general’s insubordination to the ruler permissible, or advisable?  And why?

13.  Why does Sun-Tzu endorse the use of spies?  How does this advice fit into his more general thinking on war? 

14.  The German strategist Von Clausewitz famously wrote that “war is a continuation of diplomacy by other means.”  Channeling this line with reference to Mother Courage, Bertolt Brecht queried whether “war is a continuation of business by other means.”  Sun-Tzu’s Art of War has served as a guide for very different occupations, including diplomacy, business, negotiation, management, human relations and more.  Discuss how you think Sun-Tzu’s insights can be creatively applied to other domains?  What does this say about the value of what we might more generally call, “strategic thinking”?