The Unity of Spiritual and Political Exercises in Simone Weil’s Call for a New Saintliness: Being, Thinking and Doing in the Quest for the Good

Publication Type

Thesis

Year of Publication

2003

Author

Ross, Michael D.

Academic Department

Theology

Pages

676

Publisher

The Catholic University of America

Place Published

Washington, D.C.

Work Type

Diss

Language

English

Keywords

action
attention
God
good
Marx, Karl
necessity
theology

Annotation

Ross argues there is a central unifying theme in Simone Weil’s life and work: “the understanding and pursuit of the good of others”. He begins the dissertation by exploring Weil’s ideas about human good. He then turns to a discussion of the philosophy underlying these ideas, followed by an examination of how these ideas played out in her political activity, particularly in what he calls her “alternative to Marxism”. In the second part of the dissertation, he examines Weil’s engagement with science and ancient Greek culture before turning to a discussion of ‘divine good’ in an exposition of her theological views. He concludes with an examination of how Weil’s theology translated into action or ‘doing the good’.