Combatants grasp their own essence only by being the object of an opponent’s weapon

Evidence

But, Hegel adds, that essence can only be recognized reciprocally. To be aware of what I am as a combatant, it is not enough simply to handle the weapon; I must also know what it is like to be its object. A violent subject can seize upon his own essence only if he experiences his own violence mirrored in the weapon of his opponent. — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 611

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Combat against an invulnerable enemy becomes an inquiry into his body’s flaw — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 292; Weapons constitute the essence of combatants, not mere instruments — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 609; Turning to armed struggle dissolves filial deference and creates individual autonomy — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 351 (+1 more)

Related

• A combatant’s weapon defines the moral essence of who they become (similarity 0.87)
• Weapons constitute the essence of combatants, not mere instruments (similarity 0.86)
• Combat against an invulnerable enemy becomes an inquiry into his body’s flaw (similarity 0.84)
• Choosing a weapon can alter or forfeit the user’s moral essence (similarity 0.83)
• Refusing to kill is about what one becomes, not what one ought to do (similarity 0.82)
• Analyzing weapons’ mechanics reveals the political form they impose on action (similarity 0.81)
• Guerrilla power derives from the whole population, not weaponry (similarity 0.81)
• Combat carried fraternal relations out of ritual deference into shared authority (similarity 0.81)
• Weapons’ means, not ends, determine the form of violent action. (similarity 0.79)
• Violence in the Western only carries meaning within a rule-governed moral economy (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Weapons constitute the essence of combatants, not mere instruments #expands (0.70) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 609
• Turning to armed struggle dissolves filial deference and creates individual autonomy #exemplifies (0.55) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 351
• Combat carried fraternal relations out of ritual deference into shared authority #expands (0.50) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 370