Simone Weil and the Specter of Self-Perpetuating Force

E. Jane Doering

Description

Simone Weil's philosophical and social thought during her short life (1909-1943) was intimately engaged with the nature of power and force, both human and natural, and the problems inherent in the use of force. Weil argued vehemently for pacifism, then moved toward a guarded acceptance of the use of force under very specific circumstances, in the context of the rise of Nazism. Ultimately she came to a nuanced and unique perspective on force and on the preservation of human dignity, in the aftermath of several profound mystical experiences during the last years of her life. E. Jane Doering carefully examines and analyzes the material in Weil's notebooks and lesser-known essays to illuminate her evolving thought on violence, war, and injustice. In addition, Doering addresses Weil's engagement with the Bhagavad Gita during her final years, a text that reoriented and enlightened Weil's activist and intellectual search for moral value in a violent world.

Apart from small excerpts, none of the four volumes of Weil's notebooks, only recently published in French, have been translated into English. Simone Weil and the Specter of Self-Perpetuating Force contains Doering's expert translations of numerous notebook entries. The book will interest Weil scholars, those in French studies, and those who explore interdisciplinary topics in philosophy, religious studies, history, and political science.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Éthique et morale
• Moral Philosophy
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• Nazism
• German occupation of France during World War II
• French philosophy
• World War II
• Nazi Germany
• History of Europe
• Ethics
• Eastern
• Simone Weil
• Seconde Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268077709
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

S I M O N E W E I L A N DT H E S P E C T E RO F S E L F  P E R P E T UAT I N G F O RC E

E. J ane D oering

S I M O N E W E I L A N D T H E S P E C T E R O F S E L F - P E R P E T U A T I N G F O R C E

S i m o n e W e i l

AND THE

SPECTER

OF

SELF-PERPETUATING

FORCE

E . J A N E D O E R I N G

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2010 the University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Doering, E. Jane. Simone Weil and the specter of selfperpetuating force / E. Jane Doering. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN13: 9780268026042 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN10: 0268026041 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Weil, Simone, 1909–1943. 2. Violence—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. B 2430. W 474 D 64 2010 194—dc22 2010007652

∞ The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

To Bernard Doering,

who is mysine qua non,without whom the challenge of

studying the mystical philosophy of Simone Weil would

never have attained its full promise.

240

210

183

270

151

96

Values for Reading the Universe

122

69

Index

Appendix: English Translations of Simone Weil’s Essays

Justice and the Supernatural

Bibliography

Reading and Justice

Love of Neighbor versus Totalitarianism

SIX .

Simone Weil and the BhagavadGita

TW O .

Introduction

Acknowledgments

xi

The Empire of Force

41

C O N T E N T S

265

243

Notes

FIVE .

ONE .

ix

Preface

FOUR .

THREE .

Simone Weil’s Rejection of Pacifism

13

SEVEN .

EIGHT .

Neither Victim nor Executioner

1

P R E F A C E

This study traces Simone Weil’s unwavering desire to lay bare to her readers the reality of seductive, deathdealing brute force, with the dreadful consequences that follow when one counters violence with vi olence. Through her exploration of history, sacred texts, literature, and close observation of contemporary events, as well as reflection on her mystical experiences, she sought a resolution to the paradox of God’s love for his creation and the terrible vulnerability of human bodies and souls to destructive force perpetrated by other human beings. She came to the conclusion that only openness to God’s love, accessible to all, provides sufficient courage to face heartrending situations with the actions that stem from Christ’s commandment “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:35). This good force of supernatural origin can block the selfperpetuating spiral of devastating force. Her intellectual insights and her mystical experiences revealed to her that a reliance on the eternal criterion of “good,” whose source is outside this world, allows one to “read” universal truths in the melee that com prises all human situations. She believed that every person has access to this “good” by being open to the love of God, whose grace will inevi tably descend, bringing the pure good of love to diminish the extant evil. Her study of the BhagavadGita in Sanskrit gave her a reassuring response to her quest. Following the path of her determined search for ways to counter violence and yet not be contaminated by it, I have analyzed her essays, including many of her lesserknown works from her earlier years, which contain the seeds of what eventually became her unique mysti cal philosophy, a philosophy that closely interweaves thought and ac tion. I show pragmatic applications of her ideas by three moral phi losophers, who never knew her but were taken with her insights into force: Dwight Macdonald, Nicola Chiaromonte, and Albert Camus.

ix