Under the banner of martial empiricism, we advance a distinctive set of theoretical and methodological commitments for the study of war. Previous efforts to wrestle with this most recalcitrant of phenomena have sought to ground research upon primary definitions or foundational ontologies of war. By contrast, we propose to embrace war’s incessant becoming, making its creativity, mutability and polyvalence central to our enquiry. Leaving behind the interminable quest for its essence, we embrace war as mystery. We draw on a tradition of radical empiricism to devise a conceptual and contextual mode of enquiry that can follow the processes and operations of war wherever they lead us. Moving beyond the instrumental appropriations of strategic thought and the normative strictures typical of critical approaches, martial empiricism calls for an unbounded investigation into the emergent and generative character of war. Framing the accompanying special issue, we outline three domains around which to orient future research: mobilization, design and encounter. Martial empiricism is no idle exercise in philosophical speculation. It holds the promise of a research agenda apposite to the task of fully contending with the momentous possibilities and dangers of war in our time.

中文翻译：

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成为战争：走向军事经验主义

在军事经验主义的旗帜下，我们为战争研究提出了一套独特的理论和方法论承诺。以前与这种最顽固的现象搏斗的努力试图将研究建立在战争的主要定义或基础本体论上。相比之下，我们建议拥抱战争的不断发生，使其创造力、可变性和多价性成为我们研究的核心。抛开对其本质的无休止的追求，我们将战争视为神秘。我们借鉴激进经验主义的传统，设计出一种概念性和情境性的探究模式，无论战争将我们带到何处，它都可以跟踪战争的过程和运作。超越战略思想的工具性挪用和批判方法典型的规范性限制，军事经验主义要求对战争的突发性和生成性特征进行无限制的调查。围绕附带的特刊，我们概述了未来研究方向的三个领域：动员、设计和遭遇。军事经验主义不是哲学思辨中的闲散练习。它有望制定一项研究议程，以完成充分应对我们时代战争的重大可能性和危险的任务。