Simone Weil

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

2010

Author

Coles, Robert

Book

Lives We Carry with Us: Profiles of Moral Courage

Pages

143-160

Publisher

New Press

Place Published

New York

Language

English

Keywords

activism
anorexia
antisemitism
politics
social (societal)

Annotation

Coles reflects on his encounters with the life and work of Simone Weil and the impact they had on him both personally and in his scholarship. In particular he considers her political and social views, discussing them in relation to his activity in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He concludes the essay by highlighting three areas especially problematic to students when he presents Weil: her denial of her Jewishness in her letter to the Vichy French Authorities, the ‘unreality’ of many of her plans and ideas, and finally, her own psychological issues, particularly her troubled relationship with food.