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Albert Camus, Simone Weil and the Absurd

Rik Van Nieuwenhove read

According to Camus, it is only in the face of the absurd – and through our unremitting revolt against it – that meaning can be generated. Espousing the Christian faith abnegates the absurd and with it the only possible source of meaning for modem man. This critique can be addressed by engaging with Simone Weil. She develops an original dialectic of divine absence (in the laws of indifferent ’necessity’ and affliction) and presence, which reflects the intra-Trinitarian unity and distance of the divine Persons, and which finds ultimate expression on the Cross of Christ. For her this dialectic does not induce revolt but a sophisticated kind of reconciliation that involves a selfless openness to, and engagement with, this world.

Irish Theological Quarterly, vol. 70, pp. 343-354
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Eight Women Philosophers Theory, Politics, and Feminism

Jane Duran

Urbana, Il: University of Illinois Press, pp. 194-221
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Faith, Belief, and Perspective: Peter Winch’s Philosophy of Religion

Eric Springsted read

Peter Winch’s philosophy of religion is controversial, accused of mere “perspectivism” and fideism, and for avoiding discussion of any existential reference for the object of belief. This essay examines what Winch meant by a “perspective.” It first deals with problems of first-person propositions of belief. For Wittgenstein and Winch belief, and the fact it believes, are inextricably bound together. Thus Winch argues that what is said cannot be divorced from the situation of the sayer; understanding requires making shifts in perspective. Finally, I compare Winch’s use of religious language to Augustine’s doctrine of the “inner word,” arguing that there are important parallels in Winch to pre-Lockean theological understandings of faith.

Philosophical Investigations, vol. 27, no. 4 (Oct. 2004) pp. 345-369.
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Force or Fragility? Simone Weil and Two Faces of Joan of Arc

Ann Pirruccello read

“Pirruccello begins the chapter with a discussion of Weil’s search for “skillful models of spirituality.” Following a brief biographical sketch of Weil, she turns to a discussion of Weil’s reflections on Joan of Arc. She first considers Weil’s critical reflections on the view of Joan of Arc in popular culture in wartime France. She then turns to Weil’s comparison of the story of Joan of Arc to that of Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita and Weil’s identification of what she feels to be the critical difference between them. Pirruccello goes on to consider Weil’s alternative reading of the story of Joan of Arc and the positive aspects it could contribute to a model of skillful spirituality. In so doing, Pirrucello offers an interesting discussion of Weil’s historical methodology and its contribution to her reflections on France, especially in The Need for Roots.” (Source here).

in Ann W. Astell & Bonnie Wheeler, eds., Joan of Arc and Spirituality, Palgrave Macmillan (2004), pp. 267-281.
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Simone Weil and the Divine Poetry of Mathematics

Vance Morgan

in Doering, E. Jane & Springsted, Eric, eds, The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil, Notre Dame: IN: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 61-76
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“Freedom”

Martin Andic

in Doering, E. Jane & Springsted, Eric, eds, The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil, Notre Dame: IN: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 159-180
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“Simone Weil: Completing Platonism Through a Consistent Materialism”

Robert Chenavier

in Doering, E. Jane & Springsted, Eric, eds, The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil, Notre Dame: IN: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 61-76