Foreknowledge is the decisive enabler of extraordinary success in war, but it cannot be obtained from spirits, induction, or deduction—only from human sources.
By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre
Key Arguments
- Foreknowledge empowers striking and conquering and achieving beyond ordinary men.
- Divination and purely logical or experiential inference are inadequate sources for enemy dispositions.
- Accurate knowledge of the enemy must come from people with access—spies.
Source Quotes
4. Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is FOREKNOWLEDGE. 5.
5. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation. 6.
6. Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men. 7.
Key Concepts
- what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is FOREKNOWLEDGE.
- this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.
- Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
Context
xiii. The Use of Spies — defining foreknowledge and its only valid source