Simone Weil: Awaiting God

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

2003

Author

Sayers, Janet

Book

Divine Therapy: Love, Mysticism, and Psychoanalysis

Pages

93-104

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Place Published

Oxford

Language

English

Chapter

4

Keywords

affliction (malheur)
attention
Christianity
mysticism
Plato
James, William

Annotation

Sayers, drawing on William James, argues Simone Weil underwent a form of religious experience orienting her to "what is true and good as in the philosophy of Plato" which, although transformative, was not therapeutic enough to overcome her "headaches and anorexic self-starvation". (p 93). To support her argument, Sayers briefly looks at Weil's reading of Plato, and then turns to a more in-depth discussion of her notions of attention and affliction. Her overall approach is chronological with a focus on Weil's 'Christian transformation' in the latter part of the chapter.