Realism and Faith in Transformation through the Creativeness of a Conscious Life : Simone Weil (1909-1943)

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

1999

Author

Fiori, Gabriella

Editor

Tymieniecka, Anna-Teresa

Book

Life: The Outburst of Life in the Human Sphere: Scientific Philosophy/Phenomenology of Life and the Sciences of Life

Volume

2

Series Volume

60

Pages

473-503

Publisher

Springer

Place Published

Netherlands

Language

English

Series Title

Analecta Husserliana

Keywords

attention
beauty
gravity
affliction (malheur)
reading
roots (uprootedness)
work
collective
individualism
love
'needs of the soul'
obedience
oppression
reality
truth

Annotation

In a well written article showing an in-depth knowledge and understanding of Weil’s work, Fiori traces Weil’s development as a philosopher, most particularly as a “lover of wisdom’ (p. 475) and the training and discipline Weil underwent in order to develop her capacity to receive such truth. In so doing, Fiori touches on a number of Weil’s concepts in her exposition including work, attention, ‘gravity and light’, reading, malheur, beauty and the ‘need for roots’. In the section on attention, Fiori looks at Weil's analysis of oppression, her experience with manual labor, and her thoughts on the individual versus the collective. Under attention she also looks at Weil's thoughts on gravity and 'light' including in this discussion Weil's concepts of reality, truth, necessities, affliction, love and transformation. The latter part of the chapter considers the 'obedience to one's calling'. Here, Fiori presents Weil's writing on the 'needs of the soul' and 'rootedness and uprootedness".

Notes

Reviewed by MIchel Narcy in Cahiers Simone Weil 23, no. 4 (2000): 438-439