1st Edition
The Routledge Companion to Simone Weil
The remarkable life and work of the French philosopher and activist Simone Weil has fascinated scholars from many disciplines, with no less than Albert Camus calling her the 'only great spirit of our times'. Although contemporaneous with the rise of existentialism, and educated alongside contemporaries such as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the creative and restless nature of Weil's thought set her apart. She wrote about political issues whilst acknowledging the limits of politics, whilst her rejection of rights in favour of duties and the often-Christian inspiration in her work - following her conversion from Judaism to Catholicism - made her a highly distinctive and controversial figure.
The Routledge Companion to Simone Weil is an outstanding survey of her thought. Thirty-seven chapters by an international team of expert contributors are divided into six clear parts:
- Contextualising Weil
- Philosophical Sources
- Key Concepts
- Politics and Society
- Interactions with Religion
- Conversations.
Within these sections key thinkers and topics central to Weil’s philosophy are addressed, including Plato, Kant, Marx, God, attention, love, beauty, labour and work, the body, slavery, rootedness, colonialism, fascism, Catholicism, Judaism, Indic thought, phenomenology, existentialism, feminism, literature, and many more.
The Routledge Companion to Simone Weil is an invaluable resource for anyone studying or researching Weil's thought, whether in philosophy and religious studies or related disciplines such as political theory, French literature and Jewish studies.
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction: Simone Weil for our Times? Deborah Casewell and Christopher Thomas
Part 1: Contextualising Weil
1. Historical Context Christine Ann Evans
2. Biography Palle Yourgrau
3. Key Texts and Reception History Eric O. Springsted
4. Mystic, Activist, and Philosopher Deborah Casewell
Part 2: Philosophical Sources
5. Plato Vance Morgan
6. Stoicism Warren Heiti
7. Kant Tully Rector
8. Alain (Émile Chartier) Simone Kotva
9. Marx Lawrence Blum
10. The Bhagavad-Gītā Nicolas Bommarito
Part 3: Key Concepts
11. Necessity and Force Philip Goodchild
12. Beauty Christopher Thomas
13. Decreation Robert Reed
14. Attention Kathryn Lawson
15. Love Stuart Jesson
16. Affliction Eva Maria Düringer
17. God Maria Clara Bingemer
18. Labor and Work Inese Radzins
19. Metaxu Emmanuel Gabielleri (trans. Mark Sinclair, ed. Deborah Casewell)
20. The Body Cynthia R. Wallace
Part 4: Politics and Society
21. Slavery Vincent Lloyd and Nathaniel Grimes
22. Rootedness Anna Rowlands
23. Justice, Human Rights and Obligations Christopher Hamilton
24. Colonialism, Anti-Fascism, and Force’s Many Faces Scott Ritner
Part 5: Interactions with Religion
25. Catholicism Marie Cabaud Meaney
26. Judaism Anat Pick
27. Indic Thought Nicolas Bommarito
28. Asceticism Gavin Flood
Part 6: Conversations
29. Weil and the Existentialists Deborah Casewell
30. Weil and Moral Philosophy Sylvia Caprioglio Panizza
31. Weil and Political Philosophy Kenneth Novis
32. Weil and Phenomenology Lissa McCullough
33. Weil and Literature Hugh Roberts
34. Weil and the Search for Truth Philip Wilson
35. Weil and Feminist Thought Sophie Bourgault
36. Weil and the Creative Arts Daisy LaFarge
37. Weil and Contemporary Concerns Victor Seidler
Afterword: Simone Weil’s Path of Exile Benjamin P. Davis.
Index
Biography
Deborah Casewell is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Chester, UK, and Co-Director of the Simone Weil Research Network UK. She is the author of Existentialism and Monotheism and Eberhard Jüngel on Existence. She has published in the areas of philosophy and culture, in particular on existentialism and religion, questions of ethics and self-formation in relation to asceticism.
Christopher Thomas is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is the co-founder of the AHRC funded UK Simone Weil Research Network and has published widely on both Simone Weil and Benedict Spinoza. He is currently working on a monograph on the aesthetic philosophy of Simone Weil.
