Weapons constitute the essence of combatants, not mere instruments

Evidence

Hegel wrote, “Weapons are nothing else than the essential being of the combatants themselves, a being which only makes its appearance for them both reciprocally.” If it is true that weapons constitute the essence of combatants, what is the essence of those who fight using drones? — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 609

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s sense that the drone operative’s achieved capacity changes who they are — bears directly on ‘art of killing’. — connects to: Guerrilla power derives from the whole population, not weaponry; A combatant’s weapon defines the moral essence of who they become; Analyzing weapons’ mechanics reveals the political form they impose on action (+8 more)

Related

• A combatant’s weapon defines the moral essence of who they become (similarity 0.92)
• Analyzing weapons’ mechanics reveals the political form they impose on action (similarity 0.91)
• Guerrilla power derives from the whole population, not weaponry (similarity 0.88)
• Weapons’ means, not ends, determine the form of violent action. (similarity 0.88)
• Combatants grasp their own essence only by being the object of an opponent’s weapon (similarity 0.86)
• Choosing a weapon can alter or forfeit the user’s moral essence (similarity 0.84)
• Drones transformed from surveillance eyes into weapons almost by chance. (similarity 0.82)
• Eliminating reciprocal exposure to violence makes drones look like cowardly weapons. (similarity 0.82)
• Technical means and strategic ends interact, not oppose, in warfare. (similarity 0.82)
• Drones evolved from surveillance eyes into lethal hunter-killer weapons. (similarity 0.81)
• Armed drones reshape sovereignty over a state’s own subjects, not just enemies (similarity 0.81)
• Drone dominance of warfare is not an inexorable historical fate (similarity 0.81)
• Drone missiles have larger lethal radii than conventional infantry weapons (similarity 0.81)
• Drones resolve the guerrilla problem by depriving insurgents of any target to attack. (similarity 0.81)
• Drone war turns strategic evaluation into disconnected body counts. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Weapons’ means, not ends, determine the form of violent action. #expands (0.75) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 119
• Technical means and strategic ends interact, not oppose, in warfare. #corroborates (0.60) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 121
• Weapons work primarily as deterrents that prevent fights rather than win them #complicates (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 966
• Dominant weapons become obsolete when their intended fights never occur #complicates (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 456