On the Abolition of All Political Parties by Simone Weil
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Recommended
Formative Writings: 1929–1941
Dorothy Tuck McFarland & Wilhelmina Van Ness, ed., University of Massachusetts Press
Effing the Ineffable: The Mysticism of Simone Weil and Ludwig Wittgenstein
Both Simone Weil and Ludwig Wittgenstein hold mysticism—i.e., the belief in something utterly transcendent—centrally. The mysticism present in Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus presents a problem: if “the mystical” is “deep” nonsense, and there is something important that cannot be sensibly presented in language, we are left in an undesirable situation. The mystical is taken to be of paramount importance but is ultimately inaccessible to reason. Weil, starting with political and theological considerations, arrives at a similar problem. A mystical position yields the “problem of mysticism”: There is the mystical; it is of crucial importance, and it is inaccessible to our reason. Weil’s mystical praxis of decreation is a solution to the problem. This does not present a way that we can come to the mystical, but a way that we can become aware of its revelation, which bypasses our reason.
Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, MA dissertation.
Social Capital versus Roots: A Review of Bowling Alone
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“Simone Weil on Israel and Rome”
Modern Age, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 94 (book review)
Performing “The Iliad or Poem of Force”: A Q&A Interview with Simona Giurgea
Resources: Simone Weil on Plant Life, Chlorophyll & Related Topics
Confronting Colonialism through the Myth of Thanksgiving
Transcendent Rebellion: The Influence of Simone Weil on Albert Camus’ Esthetics
ABSTRACT: The relationship between the thought of Albert Camus and Simone Weil has been partially explored by scholars since their deaths. However, current scholarship does not fully explain the influence Weil’s life and work had on Camus’ esthetics, a full treatment of which is necessary to truly understand the significance of Camus’ adoption of the idea of the rebel as artist. Camus’ thought progresses significantly from his early esthetics of the will in his Essay on Music, affirming art as fundamentally an egoistic act, to a later esthetics of transcendence, affirming the selflessness of artistic rebellion.
This paper argues that Camus’ development both mirrors Weil’s own philosophical development and corresponds to Camus’ exposure to and assimilation of Weil’s thought on decreation, beauty, and the transcendent. By establishing that Camus’ development in his esthetic and political theories corresponds to his exposure to and praise of Weil, I argue that Weil’s influence on Camus explains his later turn away from Nietzsche and to the affirmation of human nature, beauty in the world, and selfless rebellion and creation.
Perspectives on Political Science (Nov. 2021)
Philip Bunn is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research brings both ancient and modern political thought to bear on contemporary issues, with a focus on normative questions relating to technology.
