Simone Weil 1909 – 1943
Publication Type |
Book |
Year of Publication |
1999 |
Author |
|
Pages |
20 |
Publisher |
Peripheral Press |
Place Published |
Sydney |
Language |
English |
Keywords |
attention |
Annotation |
Brennan begins with a discussion of Weil’s notion of attention, then turns to give a brief biographical overview of her life and work. He next considers Weil’s views on romantic love, criticizing people like Stephanie Strickland and Gabrielle Fiori who, he says, erroneously ascribe to Weil ‘feminist views’ focusing on individual rights and special interest groups. He examines Weil’s critique of institutionalized Christianity, particularly her belief the Christian religion was corrupted through the incorporation into it of the ideology of force, something that she saw as dominating the religions of ancient Israel and Rome. Brennan then presents an unusually sympathetic portrayal of Weil’s desire to create a group of ‘front line nurses’ to serve during the Second World War. He goes on to claim only three books written about Weil ‘do her justice’. Here he is especially critical of those he sees as using Weil’s thought for some notion of personal rights. He concludes by presenting a few quotations from Weil as well as the words of others about her |