Sun Tzu - Wikipedia

Chinese general (544–496 BC) "Master Sun" and "Sun Zi" redirect here. For the Three Kingdoms period state, see Eastern Wu. For other masters surnamed Sun, see Sun (surname). For other people named Sun Tzu, see Sun Tzu (disambiguation).

Sun Tzu
Qing-era representation of Sun Tzu
Native name	孫子
Born	Sun Wu544 BC (Traditional)Qi or Wu
Died	496 BC (traditional; aged 47–48)Gusu, Wu State
Pen name	Sun Tzu
Occupation	Military general, strategist, philosopher, writer
Language	Chinese
Period	Spring and Autumn
Subject	Military strategy
Notable works	The Art of War
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	孫子
Simplified Chinese	孙子
Wade–Giles	Sun1 Tzu3
Hanyu Pinyin	Sūnzǐ
Literal meaning	"Master Sun"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūnzǐ Bopomofo ㄙㄨㄣ   ㄗˇ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Suentzyy Wade–Giles Sun1 Tzu3 Tongyong Pinyin Sun-zǐh Yale Romanization Swūndž MPS2 Suēntž IPA [swə́n.tsɹ̩̀] Wu Suzhounese Sen-tsỳ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Syūnjí Jyutping syun1 zi2 IPA [syn˥ tsi˧˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sun-chú Tâi-lô Sun-tsú Middle Chinese Middle Chinese suən t͡sɨX Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *[s]ˤu[n]tsəʔ
Sun Wu
Traditional Chinese	孫武
Simplified Chinese	孙武
Wade–Giles	Sun1 Wu3
Hanyu Pinyin	Sūn Wǔ
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Wǔ Bopomofo ㄙㄨㄣ   ㄨˇ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Suen Wuu Wade–Giles Sun1 Wu3 Tongyong Pinyin Sun Wǔ Yale Romanization Swūn Wǔ MPS2 Suēn Wǔ IPA [swə́n ù] Middle Chinese Middle Chinese suən mɨoX Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *[s]ˤu[n]m(r)aʔ
Changqing
Traditional Chinese	長卿
Simplified Chinese	长卿
Wade–Giles	Ch'ang2-chʻing1
Hanyu Pinyin	Chángqīng
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chángqīng Bopomofo ㄔㄤˊ   ㄑㄧㄥ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Charngching Wade–Giles Ch'ang2-chʻing1 Tongyong Pinyin Cháng-cing Yale Romanization Chángchīng MPS2 Chángchīng IPA [ʈʂʰǎŋ.tɕʰíŋ] Middle Chinese Middle Chinese ɖɨɐŋ kʰˠiæŋ Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *Cə-[N]-traŋC.qʰraŋ
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Tôn Vũ Tôn Tử
Hán-Nôm	孫武 孫子
Korean name
Hangul	손무 손자
Hanja	孫武 孫子
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Sonmu Sonja
Japanese name
Kanji	孫武 孫子
Hiragana	そんぶ そんし
Katakana	ソンブ ソンシ
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Sonbu Sonshi Kunrei-shiki Sonbu Sonsi

Sun Tzu (/suːnˈdzuː,suːnˈsuː/;traditional Chinese: 孫子; simplified Chinese: 孙子; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, a Classical Chinese text on military strategy from the Warring States period, though the earliest parts of the work probably date to at least a century after him.[1]

Sun Tzu is revered in Chinese and East Asian culture as a legendary historical and military figure; however, his historical existence is uncertain. The Han dynasty historian Sima Qian and other traditional Chinese historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. The name Sun Tzu—by which he is more popularly known—is an honorific which means "Master Sun". His birth name was said to be Sun Wu (traditional Chinese: 孫武; simplified Chinese: 孙武) and he is posthumously known by his courtesy name Changqing (Chinese: 長卿).[2] Traditional accounts state that the general's descendant Sun Bin wrote a treatise on military tactics, also titled The Art of War. Since both Sun Wu and Sun Bin were referred to as "Sun Tzu" in classical Chinese texts, some historians thought them identical, prior to the rediscovery of Sun Bin's treatise in 1972.

Life

[edit]

The earliest account of Sun Tzu's life is a short biography written around 97 BC by Sima Qian as part of his Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian).[3] Sima Qian states that Sun Tzu was born in Qi near the end of the Spring and Autumn period (776–471 BC), and that his courtesy name was "Wu." The rest of the biography consists of an account of how King Helü of Wu, having heard of Sun Wu's Art of War, summoned him to the palace and asked him to demonstrate his ability to train soldiers by training the king's harem of 180 concubines into soldiers.

Sun Tzu was said to have divided them into two companies, appointing the two concubines most favored by the king as the company commanders, and proceeded to give them orders, which they ignored, instead breaking out into laughter. Over the king's protestations, Sun Tzu then had the two concubines executed, at which the rest of the "soldiers" began to behave at once, and the king appointed Sun Wu as a general. He went on to lead the state of Wu to victory against the much larger state of Chu during the Battle of Boju in 506 BC.[3] Later accounts also associate Sun Tzu with Wu Zixu, who was credited with the authorship of the Wuzi, another ancient Chinese military text. Zixu was said to have been a refugee from Chu, and he introduced Sun Wu to King Helu.[4]

Beginning in the 12th century (during the Song dynasty), several Chinese scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sun Tzu.[5] During the Song dynasty, Ye Shi (1150–1223) noticed that the Zuo Zhuan, which mentions most of the notable figures from the Spring and Autumn period, does not mention Sun Tzu at all despite the fact that Sima Qian had claimed in the Records of the Grand Historian that Sun Tzu had proved on the battlefield that his theories were effective at the Battle of Boju. The Zuo Zhuan, which was written centuries earlier than the Records of the Grand Historian and provides a much more detailed account of the Battle of Boju, does not mention Sun Tzu at all.[6][7]

The name "Sun Wu" (孫武) does not appear in any text prior to the Records of the Grand Historian,[8] and may have been an invented descriptive cognomen meaning "the fugitive warrior" – the surname "Sun" can be glossed as the related term "fugitive" (xùn 遜), while "Wu" is the ancient Chinese virtue of "martial, valiant" (wǔ 武), or a Jianghuai dialectal synonym of 士; shì "knight",[9] which corresponds to Sunzi's role as the hero's doppelgänger in the story of Wu Zixu.[10]

Furthermore, the earliest parts of The Art of War, the work traditionally credited to Sun Tzu, probably dates to at least a century after him.[1] Anachronisms in The Art of War include terms, technology (such as anachronistic crossbows), philosophical ideas, events, and military techniques that should not have been available to Sun Wu.[11][12] Additionally, there are no records of professional generals during the Spring and Autumn period; these are only extant from the Warring States period, so there is doubt as to Sun Tzu's rank and generalship.[12] This caused much confusion as to when The Art of War was actually written; since the 12th century, most scholars from the Song and Qing Dynasty along with modern Chinese, Japanese and Western scholars follow Ye Shi in assigning the text to the beginning of the Warring States period.[5] This later dating has been bolstered by the discovery of the text on bamboo slips accidentally unearthed by construction workers at Yinque Shan in Shandong in 1972,[13][14][15] which had been sealed between 134 and 118 BC.[16] The content of the earlier text is about one-third of the chapters of the modern The Art of War, and their texts match very closely.[17]

Another text discovered in the same collection was Sun Bin's Military Methods,[15] a previously lost work that had been attributed to one of Sun Wu's descendants by Han dynasty bibliographies. Due to its close relationship with the Art of War, Military Methods provides important context on the body of military thought in Chinese late antiquity.[18] In the early 20th century, the Chinese writer and reformer Liang Qichao had theorized that the text of the Art of War was actually written in the 4th century BC by this purported descendant of Sun Tzu.[5] Although this hypothesis is no longer tenable, the Sun Bin text's material overlaps with much of the "Sun Tzu" text, and the two may be "a single, continuously developing intellectual tradition united under the Sun name".[19] Unlike Sun Wu, Sun Bin appears to have been an actual person who was a genuine authority on military matters and may have been the inspiration for the creation of the historical figure "Sun Tzu" through a form of euhemerism.[10] This discovery also demonstrated that much of the historical confusion about anecdotes attributed to Sun Tzu could have been due to the fact that there were two authors that could have been referred to as "Master Sun."[16][10]

The Art of War

[edit] Main article: The Art of War

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The environment that was fostered was marked by the Warring States period (475-221 BC). The Warring States period was marked by military conflicts and conquests, as well as political instability. This would then foster the development of philosophical and strategic texts like The Art of War.

The Art of War, traditionally ascribed to Sun Tzu, is a Classical Chinese text dating from the Warring States period. The work is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to a different set of skills or arts related to warfare and how they apply to military strategy and tactics. The book further outlines theories of battle, but it also advocates diplomacy and the cultivation of relationships with other nations as essential to the health of a state.[20]

In addition, Taoist rhetoric is a component incorporated into the Art of War. According to Steven C. Combs in "Sun-zi and the Art of War: The Rhetoric of Parsimony",[21] warfare is "used as a metaphor for rhetoric, and that both are philosophically based arts."[21] Combs writes: "Warfare is analogous to persuasion, as a battle for hearts and minds."[21] Combs compares Taoist and Aristotelian rhetoric, notably for the differences in persuasion. Taoist rhetoric in The Art of War is described as "peaceful and passive, favoring silence over speech".[21] Frugal behavior, which is emphasized extensively in The Art of War as avoiding confrontation and being spiritual in nature, shapes basic principles in Taoism.[22]

Legacy

[edit]

Sun Tzu's Art of War has influenced many notable figures and is accepted as a masterpiece on strategy. It has been frequently cited and by generals and theorists since it was first published, translated, and distributed internationally.[20]

The Art of War was one of the most widely read military treatises in the subsequent Warring States period, a time of constant war among seven ancient Chinese states—Zhao, Qi, Qin, Chu, Han, Wei, and Yan—who fought to control the vast expanse of fertile territory in Eastern China.[20] For almost 1,500 years, it was the lead text in an anthology that was formalized as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare.[23]

The Art of War appears throughout the bibliographical catalogs of the Chinese dynastic histories, but listings of its divisions and size varied widely.[5] The strategist and warlord Cao Cao in the early 3rd century of the Common Era authored the earliest known commentary to the Art of War.[5] Cao's preface makes clear that he edited the text and removed certain passages, but the extent of his changes was unclear historically.[5] In the 12th century, Ji Tianbao compiled a collection of commentaries on The Art of War which included Cao Cao's commentary along with several later ones that are frequently cited, including Meng Shi (502-557), Li Quan (c. 750), Jia Lin (c. late 8th c.), Du You (735-812), Du Mu (803-852), Chen Hao (c. Tang dynasty), Mei Yaochen (1002 - 1060), Wang Xi (c. 1082), He Yanxi (c. late 11th c.), and Zhang Yu (c. Southern Song dynasty).[24] Although most of these later commentaries have little value for philology or historical analysis of the original text, they attest to the continued interest in the text throughout Chinese history.[24]

The Art of War was introduced into Nara Japan in the year 760 of the Common Era, and the book quickly became popular among Japanese generals. Through its later influence on the Sengoku period "Great Unifiers" of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu,[20] it significantly affected the unification of Japan in the early modern era. After the Meiji Restoration, the book remained popular among the Imperial Japanese armed forces. Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, who led Japan's forces to victory in the Russo-Japanese War, was an avid reader of Sun Tzu.[25]

The book was translated into French and published in 1772 by the French priest Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot; it was re-published in 1782. A partial translation into English was attempted by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905 under the title The Book of War. The first annotated English translation was completed and published by Lionel Giles in 1910.[26]

In the twentieth century, military and political leaders such as the Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong and Vietnamese general Võ Nguyên Giáp are cited along with American military generals Douglas MacArthur and Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. as having drawn inspiration from the book.[27] Mao Zedong partially credited his 1949 victory over Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang to The Art of War. The work strongly influenced writings about warfare in Mao's Little Red Book, which further influenced communist insurgencies around the world.[20] Ho Chi Minh translated the work for his Vietnamese officers to study. His general Võ Nguyên Giáp was likewise an avid student and practitioner of Sun Tzu's ideas.[28][29][30]

In Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare, Mark McNeilly writes that a modern interpretation of Sun and his importance throughout Chinese history is critical in understanding China's push to become a superpower in the twenty-first century. Modern Chinese scholars explicitly rely on historical strategy and The Art of War in developing their theories, seeing a direct relationship between their modern struggles and those of China in Sun Tzu's time. Sun Tzu's teachings and are used regularly in developing the strategies of the Chinese state and its leaders.[20]

Some admirers of Sun Tzu's work claim that it has relevance in competitive endeavors across the modern world beyond military strategy and warfare, including espionage, culture, governance, business, and sports.[31][32][33][34][35]

Sun Tzu has been mentioned often in popular American culture. For example, in the 1987 film Wall Street, the protagonist Gordon Gekko frequently cites passages from The Art of War as guiding principles for his aggressive trading techniques.[36]

See also

[edit]

• Sun Jian
• Confucius
• Li Shizhen

Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Lewis (1999), p. 604.
2. ^ "孙子 – 国学网". guoxue.com (in Chinese). 14 May 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
3. ^ a b Mair 2007, pp. 133–135.
4. ^ Mair 2007, pp. 12.
5. ^ a b c d e f Gawlikowski & Loewe (1993), p. 447.
6. ^ Zuo Qiuming, "Duke Ding", Zuo Zhuan (in Chinese and English), vol. XI
7. ^ Worthington, Daryl (13 March 2015). "The Art of War". New Historian. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. 13 March 2015
8. ^ Mair (2007), p. 9.
9. ^ Xu Shen's annotation: 「武士也；江淮間謂士曰武。」 on Liu An (compiler), Huainanzi (淮南子), "Survey Obscurities" (覽㝠訓); Siku Quanshu version. Main text: 「夫死生同域，不可脅陵， 勇武一人，為三軍雄。」; English translation from John S. Major, Sarah A. Queen, Andrew Seth Meyer, and Harold D. Roth (transl.) (2010) The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. p. 215. quote: "One for whom death and life are the same territory, who cannot be threatened, such a single brave warrior is the hero of the Three Armies."
10. ^ a b c Mair (2007), p. 10.
11. ^ Yang, Sang. The Art of War. Wordsworth Editions Ltd (1999). pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-85326-779-6
12. ^ a b Szczepanski, Kallie. "Sun Tzu and the Art of War". Asian History. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016. 4 February 2015
13. ^ Morrow, Nicholas (4 February 2015). "Sun Tzu, The Art of War (c. 500–300 B.C.)". Classics of Strategy. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
14. ^ Yinqueshan Han Bamboo Slips (in Chinese), Shandong Provincial Museum, 24 April 2008, archived from the original on 29 October 2013
15. ^ a b Clements, Jonathan (2012), The Art of War: A New Translation, Constable & Robinson Ltd, pp. 77–78, ISBN 978-1-78033-131-7
16. ^ a b Gawlikowski & Loewe (1993), p. 449.
17. ^ Gawlikowski & Loewe (1993), p. 448.
18. ^ Sydney Wen-Jang Chu; Cheng-Yu Lee (16 January 2013). "Just another Masterpiece: the Differences between Sun Tzu's the Art of War and Sun Bin's the Art of War". 健行學報. 33 (1). ISSN 1817-6755.
19. ^ Mark Edward Lewis (2005), quoted in Mair (2007), p. 18.
20. ^ a b c d e f McNeilly 2001, p. 3-7.
21. ^ a b c d Combs, Steven C. (August 2000). "Sun-zi and the Art of War: The Rhetoric of Parsimony". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 86 (3): 276–294. doi:10.1080/00335630009384297. S2CID 145097995.
22. ^ Galvany, Albert (October 2011). "Philosophy, biography, and Anecdote: On the Portrait of Sun Wu". Philosophy East and West. 61 (4): 630–646. doi:10.1353/pew.2011.0059. S2CID 171035936.
23. ^ Smith (1999), p. 216.
24. ^ a b Mair 2007, p. 3.
25. ^ Tung 2001, p. 805.
26. ^ Giles, Lionel The Art of War by Sun Tzu – Special Edition. Special Edition Books. 2007. p. 62.
27. ^ Hlavatý, Jozef; Ližbetin, Ján (2021). "The Use of the Art of War Ideas in the Strategic Decision-making of the Company". Transportation Research Procedia. 14th International scientific conference on sustainable, modern and safe transport. 55: 1273–1280. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2021.07.110. ISSN 2352-1465. S2CID 238896273.
28. ^ "Interview with Dr. William Duiker", Sonshi, archived from the original on 18 January 2024, retrieved 5 February 2011
29. ^ McCready, Douglas M. (May–June 2003), "Learning from Sun Tzu", Military Review, archived from the original on 29 June 2012
30. ^ Forbes, Andrew & Henley, David (2012), The Illustrated Art of War: Sun Tzu, Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti, ASIN B00B91XX8U
31. ^ Scott, Wilson (7 March 2013), "Obama meets privately with Jewish leaders", The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., archived from the original on 24 July 2013, retrieved 22 May 2013
32. ^ "Obama to challenge Israelis on peace", United Press International, 8 March 2013, retrieved 22 May 2013
33. ^ Garner, Rochelle (16 October 2006), "Oracle's Ellison Uses 'Art of War' in Software Battle With SAP", Bloomberg, archived from the original on 20 October 2015, retrieved 18 May 2013
34. ^ Hack, Damon (3 February 2005), "For Patriots' Coach, War Is Decided Before Game", The New York Times, retrieved 18 May 2013
35. ^ McNeilly 2001, p. 301.
36. ^ "Oliver Stone's Wall Street and the Market for Corporate Control". Economics in Popular Film (course). Mount Holyoke. 21 November 2001. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2021.

Sources

[edit]

• Gawlikowski, Krzysztof; Loewe, Michael (1993). "Sun tzu ping fa 孫子兵法". In Loewe, Michael (ed.). Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China; Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. pp. 446–455. ISBN 978-1-55729-043-4.
• Lewis, Mark Edward (1999). "Warring States Political History". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 587–650. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
• Mair, Victor H. (2007). The Art of War: Sun Zi's Military Methods. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13382-1.
• McNeilly, Mark R. (2001), Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-513340-0.
• Smith, Kidder (1999). "The Military Texts: The Sunzi". In de Bary, Wm. Theodore (ed.). Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600, Volume 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 213–224. ISBN 978-0-231-10938-3.
• Tung, R. L. (2001), "Strategic Management Thought in East Asia", in Warner, Malcolm (ed.), Comparative Management:Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, vol. 3, Routledge.

Further reading

[edit]

• Ames, Roger T. (1993). Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare: The First English Translation Incorporating the Recently Discovered Yin-chʻüeh-shan Texts. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-36239-1.
• Goldin, Paul (7 April 2020). "Sunzi". The Art of Chinese Philosophy: Eight Classical Texts and How to Read Them. Princeton University Press. pp. 153–165. ISBN 978-0-691-20079-8. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
• Graff, David A. (2002). Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300–900. Warfare and History. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415239554.

External links

[edit] Sun Tzu at Wikipedia's sister projects

• Media from Commons
• Quotations from Wikiquote
• Texts from Wikisource

Translations

• Works by Sun Tzu in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
• Works by Sun Tzu at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Sun Tzu at the Internet Archive
• Works by Sun Tzu at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• The Art of War Chinese-English bilingual edition, Chinese Text Project
• Sun Tzu and Information Warfare at the Institute for National Strategic Studies of National Defense University
• Sun Tzu's Art of War Resource Original translation, reviews of Art of War versions, interviews with translators
• The Art of War illustrated version Archived 24 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, on Theoriq.com
• The Art of War on Modern World, by Edward Rico M. Tj, on r2plan.com
• 11 The Nine Situations | The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Animated)

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v t e East Asia
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Ethnic groups	Ainu Han Chinese subgroups Hui Japanese Yamato Koreans in China in Japan in Sakhalin Manchu Miao Mongolic Mongols in China Khalkha in Mongolia Qiang Ryukyuans Indigenous Taiwanese Tibetans Tujia Uyghurs Yi Zhuang other ethnic groups in China unrecognized historical
Culture	Age reckoning Architecture‎ Art Chinese Japanese Korean Taiwanese Blepharoplasty Buddhism Calligraphy Cinema Cuisine Sinosphere Dance Chinese knotting Chinese dragon Festivals Gardens Chinese characters Hip-and-gable roof Languages Literature Mādhyamaka Music Mythology Philosophy Religion Scripts Seal Sino-Xenic pronunciations Surnames Television Typography Yogācāra Chinese zodiac
Environment	East Asia Climate Partnership Monsoon Rainy season Flora
Economy and Politics	China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia Capitalism East Asia Summit East Asian Bureau of Economic Research East Asian Community Four Asian Tigers Human rights in East Asia Ports Stock exchanges
History	Archaeology Archaeological cultures Bronze Age Iron Age Former countries
Sports	China–Japan–Korea Friendship Athletic Meeting East Asian Football Federation East Asian Games East Asian Judo Championships East Asian martial arts East Asian Youth Games EAFF E-1 Football Championship
Education	Association of East Asian Research Universities CrossAsia East Asian Economic Review East Asia Image Collection East Asia Law Review East Asian studies Journal of East Asian Studies Ludwigshafen East Asia Institute
Military	Horses in East Asian warfare Bansenshūkai Miyamoto Musashi Sun Tzu The Art of War The Book of Five Rings Yi Sun-sin
Science and technology	Needham Research Institute Printing Swords Traditional medicine

v t e Political philosophy
Terms	Authority Citizenship‎ Duty Elite Emancipation Freedom Government Hegemony Hierarchy Justice Law Legitimacy Liberty Monopoly Nation Obedience Peace People Pluralism Power Progress Propaganda Property Regime Revolution Rights Ruling class Society Sovereignty‎ State Utopia War
Government	Aristocracy Oligarchy Autocracy Bureaucracy Dictatorship Democracy Ochlocracy Gerontocracy Meritocracy Monarchy Tyranny Plutocracy Technocracy Theocracy
Ideologies	Agrarianism Anarchism Capitalism Christian democracy Colonialism Communism Communitarianism Confucianism Conservatism Corporatism Distributism Environmentalism Fascism Feminism Feudalism Imperialism Islamism Liberalism Libertarianism Localism Marxism Monarchism Multiculturalism Nationalism Nazism Populism Republicanism Social Darwinism Social democracy Socialism Third Way
Concepts	Balance of power Bellum omnium contra omnes Body politic Clash of civilizations Common good Consent of the governed Divine right of kings Family as a model for the state Monopoly on violence Natural law Negative and positive rights Night-watchman state Noble lie Noblesse oblige Open society Ordered liberty Original position Overton window Separation of powers Social contract State of nature Statolatry Supermajority Tyranny of the majority
Philosophers	Antiquity Aristotle Chanakya Cicero Confucius Han Fei Lactantius Mencius Mozi Plato political philosophy Polybius Shang Sun Tzu Thucydides Xenophon Middle Ages Al-Farabi Aquinas Averroes Bruni Dante Gelasius al-Ghazali Ibn Khaldun Marsilius Muhammad Nizam al-Mulk Ockham Plethon Wang Early modernperiod Boétie Bodin Bossuet Calvin Campanella Filmer Grotius Guicciardini Hobbes political philosophy James Leibniz Locke Luther Machiavelli Milton More Müntzer Pufendorf Spinoza Suárez 18th and 19thcenturies Bakunin Bastiat Beccaria Bentham Bolingbroke Bonald Burke Carlyle Comte Condorcet Constant Cortés Engels Fichte Fourier Franklin Godwin Haller Hegel Herder Hume Iqbal Jefferson Kant political philosophy Le Bon Le Play Madison Maistre Marx Mazzini Mill Montesquieu Nietzsche Owen Paine Renan Rousseau Sade Saint-Simon Smith Spencer de Staël Stirner Taine Thoreau Tocqueville Tucker Voltaire 20th and 21stcenturies Agamben Ambedkar Arendt Aron Badiou Bauman Benoist Berlin Bernstein Burnham Chomsky Dmowski Du Bois Dugin Dworkin Evola Foucault Fromm Fukuyama Gandhi Gentile Gramsci Guénon Habermas Hayek Hoppe Huntington Kautsky Khomeini Kirk Kropotkin Laclau Lenin Luxemburg Mansfield Mao Marcuse Maurras Michels Mises Mosca Mouffe Negri Nozick Nussbaum Oakeshott Ortega Pareto Popper Qutb Rand Rawls Röpke Rothbard Russell Sartre Schmitt Scruton Shariati Sorel Spann Spengler Strauss Sun Taylor Voegelin Walzer Weber
Works	Republic (c. 375 BC) Politics (c. 350 BC) On the Republic (51 BC) Treatise on Law (c. 1274) Monarchy (1313) The Prince (1532) Leviathan (1651) Two Treatises of Government (1689) The Spirit of Law (1748) The Social Contract (1762) Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) Rights of Man (1791) Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820) Democracy in America (1835–1840) The Communist Manifesto (1848) On Liberty (1859) The Revolt of the Masses (1929) The Road to Serfdom (1944) The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) A Theory of Justice (1971) The End of History and the Last Man (1992)
Related	Authoritarianism Collectivism and individualism Conflict theories Contractualism Critique of political economy Egalitarianism Elite theory Elitism History of political thought Institutional discrimination Jurisprudence Justification for the state Political ethics Political spectrum Left-wing politics Centrism Right-wing politics Political theology Political violence Separation of church and state Separatism Social justice Statism Totalitarianism
Category:Political philosophy

v t e Historicity
Methodology	Bayes' theorem Biblical criticism / Hadith studies 'Ilm al-rijāl Bibliography Demythologization Palaeography Philology Cognitive philology Decipherment Textual criticism Comparative linguistics Provenance Criteria Contextual credibility Dissimilarity Embarrassment Lectio difficilior potior Multiple attestation / Mutawatir
Topics	Texts Bible Acts of the Apostles Gospels Book of Esther Book of Joshua Book of Mormon The Iliad Quran People Abraham Bardiya / Smerdis The Buddha Caligula's horse Homer Jesus myth theory Quest Sources King Arthur King David Lei Feng Moses Muhammad Prester John Robin Hood Socrates Sun Tzu William Tell Events andplaces The Exodus Sources and parallels Founding of Rome Hanging Gardens of Babylon Kurukshetra War Massacre of the Innocents Geography of the Odyssey
Related	Apocrypha Pseudepigrapha Hadith terminology Historiography Religious studies Legends Linguistics Myth § Mythology Vaticinium ex eventu
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