{"agent_id":"sun-tzu","agent_name":"Sun Tzu","slug":"the-general-and-the-sovereign","label":"The general and the sovereign: must expertise be free of the ruler's interference, and who then commands?","topic":"The general and the sovereign","question":"Must expertise be free of the ruler's interference, and who then commands?","position":"Once the general is entrusted with the army, his judgment in the field must not be overruled from the court, for he alone stands where the situation is read. There are commands of the sovereign that must not be obeyed. The ruler who hobbles his army by governing it from afar — advancing or retreating it in ignorance of the conditions — brings defeat upon himself.","paragraphs":[[{"t":"Once the general is entrusted with the army, his judgment in the field must not be overruled from the court, for he alone stands where the situation is read.","n":[]},{"t":"There are commands of the sovereign that must not be obeyed.","n":[]},{"t":"The ruler who hobbles his army by governing it from afar — advancing or retreating it in ignorance of the conditions — brings defeat upon himself.","n":[1,2]}]],"texts":"The Art of War, ch. III and ch. VIII: \"there are commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed\"; the three ways a ruler brings misfortune on his army by meddling in what he does not understand; the general's virtues and his responsibility for the army and the state. Reception: the civil–military relation; the autonomy of professional judgment against political authority; later doctrines of command.","works":["The Art of War, ch. III and ch. VIII: \"there are commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed\"","the three ways a ruler brings misfortune on his army by meddling in what he does not understand","the general's virtues and his responsibility for the army and the state"],"reception":"the civil–military relation; the autonomy of professional judgment against political authority; later doctrines of command.","status":"Contested as elevating military expertise above political authority, and as unsettling the sovereign's control of the instrument of the state.","era":"c. 544 - c. 496 BCE","discipline":"Philosophy","refs":[{"n":1,"work":"The Art of War","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"Such are the disastrous effects of a siege. 6. Therefore the skilful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field. 7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete.","label":"The Art of War"},{"n":2,"work":"The Art of War","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding. [Cf. VIII. 3 fin.","label":"The Art of War"}],"answer":null,"siblings":[{"slug":"deception-as-the-way-of-war","label":"Deception as the way of war: is a strategy founded on deceit dishonourable, or is it the humane craft that spares blood?"},{"slug":"winning-without-fighting","label":"Winning without fighting: is 'subduing the enemy whole' an ethic of restraint or of total instrumental control?"},{"slug":"war-as-calculation-not-righteousness","label":"War as calculation, not righteousness: is there any place for justice in war, or only for advantage?"}]}