(does anyone know) What were the general philosophies of groups throughout history notorious for their warrior mentality? For example, the Spartans of ancient Greece, the warrior-poets of ancient Britain, or the Zulu. I'm also interested in the philosophies of different individuals in history such as Gengis Khan or the Hwarang. I already know quite a bit about the Samurai from the many open-access online journals dedicated to martial arts and martial arts history, and I've read quite a few books on Napoleon and Alexander the Great. Have there been any philosophies started by modern military bodies such as the Navy SEALS or the SAS? Are there any books relating to this subject?
The Spartans weren't especially known for producing philosophers. Any reading on Zen would be germane, perhaps a look at the Eddas and the Saga of the Jomsvikings (old Scandinavian warrior philosophy) but I can't particularly think of anything modern.
only two that i know of. 1. kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out. 2. take no prisoners. i'm sure there are others. oh yeah, who could forget pattons: 3. the idea in war is not to die for your country but to make the the other poor dumb bastard die for his. another is garrisons quote from JFK. i'm not sure i agree with it though. 4. a states control of its people resides in its war powers.
Warriors are interested in actions, not wasting energy on words. Philosophies are for wimps! Wimps can't actually do anything, so they talk a lot about it. Baron Max
The various Warrior codes etc, can just be attributed to various interpretations of Honour. Honour is very much a foreign concept to modern laws, thus most people. Also how the word soldier and warrior are often confused nowdays, even though they are radically different. As to Honour, I like these definitions: Honour has not to be won; it must only not be lost. Arthur Schopenhauer Honour is simply the morality of superior men. H. L. Mencken
nietzschefan: Huh. I guess now I want to recommend things like the Romance of the Rose and all those books about chivalry, which were basically manuels of honorable combat.
hey first of all i want to say great thread, i will contribute alot to this topic as its a personal favorite of mine. but i dont have a great deal of time right now, i am busy and have to keep comming back to the computer to type. the art of war by sun tzu is a great starting point with combat/warrior/warfare philosophy, here is a link for it. http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html also here is something on a smaller scale and a different type of combat philosophy. some words of unnarmed combat. i practise both taijiquan and shaolin and found this to add. http://wongkk.com/general/comparison-03.html i will post more asap tonight. peace.