The Measure of Justice: The Language of Limit as Key to Simone Weil’s Political Philosophy
Publication Type |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication |
2000 |
Author |
|
Journal |
ARC: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University |
Volume |
28 |
Pages |
53-66 |
Language |
English |
Keywords |
attention |
Annotation |
As indicated by the title, this article discusses the importance of Simone Weil’s notion of limit for her conception of justice and its place in her political philosophy. The article begins by referencing George Grant’s call for “an ontology, which carries in it the essence of justice” (54), going on to claim that Weil’s work can be seen as a search for such ontology. To support this claim, the authors discuss Weil’s concept of limit, the paradoxes encountered in considering this limit or ‘necessity’ in relation to suffering, the importance of beauty and finally the role of attention and reading. The author’s briefly use the work of Flannery O’Connor to illustrate some of Weil’s ideas before discussing the ways in which they serve as a critique of modern day political theory, especially the liberal notion of the autonomous self with the freedom of that self-postulated as the highest goal. Ultimately, they conclude, it is only in contemplating the idea of perfect justice, something that exists outside of the created world that society can hope to move closer to any real approximation of it. |