Despair is the Handmaiden of War

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

2010

Author

Doering, E. Jane

Editor

Rozelle-Stone, A. Rebecca (Adrian Rebecca) Stone, Lucian

Book

The Relevance of the Radical: Simone Weil 100 Years Later

Pages

159-175

Publisher

Continuum

Place Published

New York

Language

English

Chapter

10

Keywords

ethics
force
justice
pacifism
violence
war

Annotation

Doering offers an in-depth analysis of Weil's attitude towards and reflections on war. She begins with a discussion of Weil's initial pacifism the reasons behind it and the conditions for her shift to a position of 'just war'. Central to this discussion is Weil's understanding of force. Doering moves on to expand upon the implications of Weil's views before turning to use them as a means to critically reflect on the violent conflict of our time.