Philosophy

“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

The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil

E. Jane Doering & Eric O. Springsted, editors read

“Anyone interested in Simone Weil will want, and need, to read this superb collection.”―Diogenes Allen, Princeton Theological Seminary   “These essays―some written by leading specialists in Simone Weil’s thought, others by prominent theologians and philosophers of religion―are especially valuable not only for elucidating Weil’s reading of Plato but also for showing what one or another form of Christian Platonism can mean for us today.”―James A. Wiseman, O.S.B., Catholic University of America

“This remarkable and penetrating collection of essays on Simone Weil’s religious philosophy illumines the living intersection between serious metaphysics and ethics. The authors carefully examine this relation that much post-modern reflection has until now only skimmed, but that Weil herself managed to embrace with breathtaking intellectual discipline and self-giving. The book is a bracing testimony to the deep moral consequences of classical ontology and its challenging Christian reorientation.” ―The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo, Colorado

In this book a group of renowned international scholars seek to discern the ways in which Simone Weil was indebted to Plato, and how her provocative readings of his work offer challenges to contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality. This is the first book in twenty years to systematically investigate Weil’s Christian Platonism.

University of Notre Dame Press, 2004

Discussions of Simone Weil

Rush Rhees read

The work of Simone Weil has not garnered the attention it deserves in the Anglo-American tradition. In this book, Rhees, the noted thinker trained by Wittgenstein, provides the most sustained critique to date of Weil’s views on science and religion. In this decidedly Wittgensteinian spin on the philosophy of religion, Rhees’ observations on the major themes in Weil’s work–social philosophy, science, ethics, and religion–are presented. The book shows how Rhees wrestled with difficulties he found in the work of Weil, someone he held in the highest regard.

“In the field of Weil studies, this book is a ‘gold mine.'” — Richard H. Bell, author of Simone Weil: The Way of Justice as Compassion

“Weil was a highly original thinker and Discussions of Simone Weil helps bring out that originality. Rhees also makes a contribution to the philosophy of religion, for here we get to see how a genuine Wittgensteinian approach might work in tackling religious questions.” — Eric O. Springsted, coauthor of Spirit, Nature, and Community: Issues in the Thought of Simone Weil

Rush Rhees (1905-1989) taught at the University of Wales, Swansea, for twenty-six years and became Honorary Professor after his retirement. He is the author of Without Answers; Discussions of Wittgenstein; On Religion and Philosophy; Wittgenstein and the Possibility of Discourse; and Moral Questions. D. Z. Phillips is Rush Rhees Research Professor at the University of Wales, Swansea, and Danforth Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, California. Mario von der Ruhr is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Wales, Swansea.

D.Z Phillips assisted by Mario von der Ruhr, ed., New York: State University of New York Press, 2000

“Who is the Spectator? Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil on Thinking and Judging”

J. J. Hermsen

in J. J. Hermsen, ed., The Judge and the Spectator: Hannah Arendt on Thought and Action (Leuven: Peeters)

“God and Concept-formation in Simone Weil”

D.Z. Phillips

in Richard H. Bell, ed., Simone Weil’s Philosophy of Culture: Readings Toward Divine Humanity, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 77-92, also in in Phillips, Recovering Religious Concepts: Closing Epistemic Divides,London: Palgrave, pp. 211-226