Finally – My Clausewitz Post on Book I.
After numerous small difficulties, I finally pulled it together:
Clausewitz, On War, Book I.: A Man of His Time or for All Times?
….It is is difficult not to be impressed with the brilliance of Clausewitz’s insights as I read Book I. His disciplined yet speculative mind was not constrained by the Newtonian paradigm that governed the 19th century’s increasingly deterministic understanding of nature; nor did he become intoxicated by the mythic Romanticism that pervaded European elite culture and abandon the rigor that can be found on every page of On War. There is ample evidence to be found in Book I. of Clausewitz surpassing his times to grasp concepts and truths that do not emerge in other fields for decades or more than a century.
Yet there are also passages that show the rootedness of the worldview of a European military officer who survived the cataclysm of the Napoleonic wars. I finished Book I. firmly convinced of Clausewitz’s genuine greatness as a philosopher but remain unconvinced that that he has discovered the eternal nature of war in all it’s varied manifestations – I am also deeply skeptical that such a thing could even be possible
Read the rest here.
The quality of the posts at The Clausewitz Roundtable has been outstanding, as have the comments. Every participant has taught me something, some more than once or posed questions that stretched my mind. Here are the recent editions and their authors:
josephfouche – Clausewitz, On War, Book I: War is a Buffet. Eat Up. and Clausewitz, On War, Book I: Defense
Jay Manifold – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: War as a Single Short Blow
Sam Liles – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: Into a cavern to find the darkness of cyber space
Tim Stevens – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1, Chapter 1: the Paradoxical Trinity
Lexington Green – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1, Chapter 3: Response to Capt. Lauterbach on Clausewitz on Military Genius and Clausewitz, On War, Introductory Matter: Empiricism, Clarity of Expression, Patterns not Systems, Utility
seydlitz89 – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1 – My introduction, and comments on Chapter 1 and Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: Dialectic, but which dialectic?
Cheryl Rofer – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: Clausewitz and Herman Kahn and Clausewitz, On War, Introductory Material: Cordesman Asks the Question
Nathaniel T. Lauterbach – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: Clausewitz on Military Genius
Younghusband – Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: On Wrestling and Clausewitz, On War, Book I: Solving for War
Kotare – Clausewitz “On War”, Book 1: such a dangerous business and Clausewitz, “On War”, Book 1: it all seems so simple
Shane Deichman – Clausewitz, On War, Book I: Art with Science
Critt Jarvis – Clausewitz, On War, Introductory Matter: “Hello World!” and Clausewitz, On War, Book I: What Is War?
Jonathan – A Note to Readers and Participants in the Clausewitz Roundtable
January 16th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Mark, you missed:
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Nathaniel T. Lauterbach
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Clausewitz, On War, Book 1: Clausewitz on Military Genius
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http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/6602.html