Towards an Aesthetic Teleology : Romantic Love, Imagination and the Beautiful in the Thought of Simone Weil and Charles Williams
Publication Type |
Book Chapter |
Year of Publication |
1996 |
Author |
|
Book |
Mozart and Immorality : Le Nozze di Figaro by David S. Siroky and Towards an Aesthetic Teleology : Romantic love, Imagination and the Beautiful in the Thought of Simone Weil and Charles Williams by Laura A. Smit. |
Pages |
16-34 |
Publisher |
Boston University, the University Professors |
Place Published |
[S.l.] |
Language |
English |
Series Title |
Edmonds papers |
Keywords |
aesthetics |
Annotation |
Smit says she is looking at Simone Weil and Charles Williams as two people who seek to reappropriate the past in an attempt to develop a teleological view ‘oriented toward beauty’. She begins with a discussion of Weil and renunciation, arguing it is a central theme in her life and work, In the discussion, Smit touches upon a number of central themes in Weil’s work including necessity, decreation, attention and imagination. She characterizes Weil as following the via negative. She then goes on to discuss Charles Williams, presenting him as an exemplar of the via affirmative. In the final section of the paper, Smit compares and contrasts Weil and Williams in an attempt to develop what she calls an ‘aesthetic theology’. |