I don’t see the circularity. Just because a warrior is victorious doesn’t necessarily mean they won before going to war; it might be instead that victorious warriors go to war first and then seek to win, and defeated warriors do the same thing. Can you spell out the circularity?
Unless you interpret “win first” as “prepare for every eventuality, calculate the unbiased probability of winning and be comfortable with the odds when going to battle”, “win first” can only be meaningfully applied in retrospect.
I think you’ve stumbled upon the correct interpretation.
Sun Tzu was fond of making warfare about strategy and logistics rather than battles, so that one would only fight when victory is a foregone conclusion.
I don’t see the circularity.
Just because a warrior is victorious doesn’t necessarily mean they won before going to war; it might be instead that victorious warriors go to war first and then seek to win, and defeated warriors do the same thing.
Can you spell out the circularity?
Unless you interpret “win first” as “prepare for every eventuality, calculate the unbiased probability of winning and be comfortable with the odds when going to battle”, “win first” can only be meaningfully applied in retrospect.
I think you’ve stumbled upon the correct interpretation.
Sun Tzu was fond of making warfare about strategy and logistics rather than battles, so that one would only fight when victory is a foregone conclusion.
Ah, I see what you mean now.
Thanks for the clarification.