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Simone Weil is one of the most profound and thought-provoking thinkers of the 20th century. A teacher, factory and farm labourer, a political activist at home and abroad, a loving friend, daughter and sister-all these manifest a life devoted to the good in its many forms. Her writings explore the good open to us and the various routes to it, spanning philosophy, politics, science and spirituality. While she saw her vocation primarily as a philosopher-examining questions concerning human faculties, action and thought, the limits of language and our need of mediation, suffering and beauty for contact with reality-her startlingly original thought is often obscured by her having been too readily categorized as a Christian mystic.
Simone Weil: Basic Writings is an expertly edited anthology of Weil's most important writings, presenting her philosophy as it relates to the architecture of human nature, politics, work, necessity, beauty, goodness and God. Working from the definitive French edition of Weil's complete writings, D. K. Levy and Marina Barabas have translated the essays anew or for the first time, adding important notes and references absent from existing English language editions of Weil's work.
Following an extensive introduction that gives an overview of Weil's life and thought, each part opens with a short preface situating the selected essays within Weil's oeuvre.
Simone Weil: Basic Writings provides an excellent entry point to Weil's philosophy, as well as a reference for students and scholars of Weil's thought in philosophy and related disciplines.
List of contents
Introduction D. K. Levy Notes on the Translation D. K. Levy and Marina Barabas Part 1: Here below Introduction to Part 1 D. K. Levy 1. Study for a declaration of obligations to the human being 2. Concerning syndicalism "Single, Apolitical, Mandatory" 3. Let's not start the Trojan War again 4. Legitimacy of the provisional government 5. What does the Occitanian inspiration consist in 6. Prelude to a declaration of duties toward the human being 7. Is there a Marxist doctrine? 8. Reflections on quantum theory 9. Morality and literature 10. Essay on the concept of reading 11. Some reflexions on the concept of value 12. This war is a war of religions 13. Are we fighting for justice? 14. Is the human person sacred? Part 2: Mediation Introduction to Part 2 D. K. Levy 15. Precondition of non-servile work 16. Reflections on the good use of school studies with a view to the love of God 17. Sketch of the "Commentary on Pythagorean texts" 18. Concerning the Pythagorean Doctrine Part 3: Beyond the sky Introduction to Part 3 D. K. Levy 19. Theory of Sacraments 20. Forms of the implicit love of God i. Love of one's neighbour ii. Love of the order of the world iii. Love of religious practices iv. Friendship v. Implicit love and explicit love 21. God's love and affliction. Index
About the author
Simone Weil (1909–1943), a profound, original and influential thinker in the 20th century, was a political writer and activist, and a formidable philosopher. Her best-known writings appeared in English in The Need for Roots (1952), Waiting on God (1951) and Oppression and Liberty (1958). Albert Camus saw her as "the only great spirit of our times".
D.K. Levy is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Marina Barabas, having taught philosophy in London and Boston, is now a Fellow of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Summary
An outstanding starting point for anyone seeking an introduction to Simone Weil’s philosophical thinking, and essential reading for more advanced students and scholars of Weil’s thought.
Report
'Suffering through years of misrepresentation, Simone Weil finally receives the careful editing and philosophical translation she deserves. David Levy and Marina Barabas have crafted the ideal entry point for those looking to engage with Weil's ideas in English.' - Nicolas Bommarito, Simon Fraser University, Canada
'In her meditations on justice and violence, hope and despair, greatness and humility, the natural and the unnatural, and power and human helplessness, Simone Weil has given us a philosophy for all times, but one that is especially timely in our present crises. For this thoughtfully chosen selection from her work, and their careful and learned commentary on it, Levy and Barabas deserve the gratitude of us all.' - Sophie Grace Chappell, Open University, UK
'These fresh translations do justice to Weil's prose, a window aspiring to transparency like Weil's life itself. Attention, too, is focused on the rigor of Weil's thinking, rooted in the ideal world of Plato and mathematics, while never abandoning the "real world" and the need for a universal justice to uncover its beauty. If the beauty of mathematical science did not reflect the beauty of the world "the real world would be like an ugly body in beautiful clothing", wrote the great logician Kurt Gödel. As this collection demonstrates, Weil would have agreed.' - Palle Yourgrau, Brandeis University, USA
