Description
In the early 1940s, Simone Weil (1909-1943) wrote that “the glossy surface” of her civilization hid “a real intellectual decadence.” There is also good reason to think that the 21st century has ushered in new extremes of intellectual and aesthetic impoverishment. 2009 will mark the centennial of the birth of this late French activist, philosopher, and mystic, and her life and words are arguably more urgent now than ever before.
While Weil’s ideas are impossible to separate from her praxis, the first section of the book will analyze the “radical orientation” suggested in her writings. Contributors in this section will address the relevance of her religious ideas, the “irrelevant,” the posture of attentiveness and “looking,” and the roles of erotic exemplarity and mystery. The second section will examine the “radical world” that follows from the orientation described and will consider themes like violence, power, resistance, responsibility, feminism, liberation theology, science, technology, propaganda, and political hegemony.
Through the revolutionary insights of this remarkable woman, then, the contributors propose a framework for understanding and creating a more just world, one that challenges Western philosophy's metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical assumptions which have led to pervasive forms of uprootedness, or what Weil calls déracinement. This framework centres on a notion of absolute selflessness and humility, and is radical both in the sense of being “unconventional” and in the sense of the Latin radicalis, “returning to essential roots.” Becoming rooted in reality and centred in what is essential, especially in our context characterized by over-consumption and “virtual reality,” is unconventional. How much more, then, is the radical absolutely relevant and Simone Weil the paradigm for effective socio-political redress.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
List of Abbreviations
Preface : The Relevance of Simone Weil: 100 Years Later
JACQUES CABAUD
Introduction: A Call to Radicalism
A. REBECCA ROZELLE-STONE and LUCIAN STONE
PART I. RADICAL ORIENTATION
1. Simone Weil on Modern Disequilibrium
BARTOMEU ESTELRICH
2. Simone Weil and the Ethic of (Im)moderation
A. REBECCA ROZELLE-STONE
3. The Supernatural as Remedy toTotalitarian Regimes – Simone Weil on Sanctity and the Eucharist
MARIE CABAUD MEANEY
4. Christianity and the Errors of Our Time: Simone Weil on Atheism and Idolatry
MARIO VON DER RUHR
5. “To Make Known This Method”: Simone Weil and the Business of Institutional Education
CHRISTOPHER A. P. NELSON
6. Mystery and Philosophy
ERIC O. SPRINGSTED
PART II. RADICAL WORLD
7. Miracles and Supernatural Physics: Simone Weil on the Relationship of Science and Religion
VANCE G. MORGAN
8. Simone Weil’s Analysis of Modern Science as the Basis of Her Critique of the Technological Society
LAWRENCE E. SCHMIDT
9. The ‘War’ on Error? Violent Metaphor and Words with Capital Letters
A. REBECCA ROZELLE-STONE and LUCIAN STONE
10. Despair is the Handmaiden of War
E. JANE DOERING
11. Power, Subjectivity, and Resistance in the Thought of Simone Weil and Michel Foucault
KRISTA E. DUTTENHAVER and COY D. JONES
12. An Ethical Account of the Self Who Might Be Otherwise: Simone Weil and Judith Butler
CYNTHIA GAYMAN
13. Mystical Selfhood and Women’s Agency: Simone Weil and French Feminist Philosophy
SARAH PINNOCK
14. Truly Incarnated: Simone Weil’s Revised Christianity INESE RADZINS
15. Affliction and the Option for the Poor: Simone Weil and Latin American Liberation Theology
MARIA CLARA LUCCHETTI BINGEMER
Bibliography
Index
Author(s)
A. Rebecca Rozelle-Stone, A. Rebecca Rozelle-Stone is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, The University of North Dakota, USA.
Lucian Stone, Lucian Stone is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, The University of North Dakota, USA.
Reviews
‘This sharp set of essays examines Weil's disconcerting life and work, revealing her troubling relevance for the contemporary world. Filled with more than its share of surprises, these well-written pieces by an excellent panel of scholars call us to attend to Weil's strange genius and to reckon with her counterintuitive insights. I have no doubt that I will return to this collection many times in the years to come.’ – Stephen Bloch-Schulman, Elon University, NC, USA
Stephen Bloch-Schulman,
‘This is a splendid collection of interpretative essays focused on the radical character of Simone Weil’s contribution. The editors have assembled essays that locate Weil’s insights in the context of late 20th century thought, including reflections on her enduring importance for readers concerned with spirituality, social justice and the role of science and technology in contemporary life. The volume offers an interdisciplinary approach that is accessible and illuminating, inviting to both new readers and scholars of Weil’s compelling insights. I was especially excited about the chapters that situated these insights within the context of French feminism and Latin American liberation theology.’ – Clare Fischer, Starr King School for the Ministry, Berkeley, CA, USA
Clare Fischer,
"In these essays marking the centenary of Simone Weil's birth, contributors show how the life and words of the late French activist, philosopher, and mystic are arguably more urgent now than ever before. The book's first section analyzes the "radical orientation" suggested in Weil's writings, addressing the relevance of her religious ideas, the "irrelevant," the posture of attentiveness and "looking," and the roles of erotic exemplarity and mystery. The second section examines the "radical world" that follows from that orientation, considering themes like violence, power, resistance, responsibility, feminism, liberation theology, science, technology, propaganda, and political hegemony."
-Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.
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