On the Essential Philosophy of Military Command

In Grandeurs et servitudes militaires, Alfred de Vigny defines soldiers as belonging to a "race of men always scorned or honoured beyond measure depending on whether nations find them useful or necessary". This vision of a writer who was himself a soldier reveals a genuine gap in understanding. The military world — which is, for both historical and geographical reasons, constitutive of French identity — is intellectually misunderstood. Worse, it is poorly understood. It has long been the subject of numerous historical and sociological studies, generally serious and pertinent. Indispensable as these are, they nevertheless prove insufficient, as they only partially account for this singular universe. What follows is a technical vision that can easily be described as reductive. If there is indeed a field of knowledge that remains to be deepened or even explored, it is the philosophical approach to the military condition. In fact, it is fundamental, in the etymological sense of the term. Generally neglected, it should therefore come first, as a prerequisite to all other approaches.
This essay does not claim to fill such a gap. It does, however, open the way, by focusing on the essence of the exercise of authority, through the question of the real or supposed singularity of military command in its philosophical dimension.
Combining a marked interest in philosophy with a proven knowledge of civilian and military organisations, the author delivers here an original work which, through an essential question, invites the reader to free philosophical reflection.