Exploring the philosophical writings of Simone Weil, this unparalleled reference work documents the key thinkers who influenced her political, philosophical and religious outlook. It also offers a critical analysis of her wide-ranging philosophical concepts through short, accessible essays, showing how they connect throughout her writings to form an organic whole.
After outlining her biography, Part I explores Weil’s boundary-crossing interests in radical politics, science, mathematics, history, and religious phenomena. Part II traces the intellectual history of Weil’s own writings by mapping her most important philosophical influences including Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Rousseau, Kant, and Marx. The rich landscape of Weil’s philosophy receives critical consideration in Part III through the distinctive defining terms that tie her body of thinking together: terms such as amor fati, attention, beauty, force, gravity and grace, receive full explication alongside important themes of justice, obedience, compassion, and method as they figure in her work.
A reliable scholarly framework guides readers through Weil’s expansive oeuvre, including bibliographic help with locating Weil’s writings in French and English, alongside an overview of the critical literature. For students, scholars, and lay readers who seek clarifying and comprehensive coverage of Weil’s ideas and writings, this text is an indispensable research tool.
How to Use this Handbook
I. Weil in Context
a. Essential Biography, Lissa McCullough (California State University Dominguez Hills, USA)
b. Historical-political Context, Lissa McCullough (California State University Dominguez Hills, USA)
c. Weil as Activist, Educator, Philosopher, Political Thinker, Religious Thinker, Literary Writer, Hermeneut, Lissa McCullough (California State University Dominguez Hills, USA)
d. Strategies for Reading Weil’s Writings, Lissa McCullough (California State University Dominguez Hills, USA)
II. Key Philosophers
Alain – Simone Kotva (University of Cambridge, UK)
Descartes – Paul Clavier (University of Lorraine, France)
Eckhart – Martin Andic (University of Massachusetts, USA)
John of the Cross – Carmen Herrando (Universidad San Jorge, Spain)
Kant – Eric O. Springsted (Centre of Theological Inquiry, USA)
La Boétie – Patrice Rolland (University of Paris XII, France)
Marx – Robert Chenavier (Association pour l’Etude de la Pensée de Simone Weil, France)
Nietzsche – Federica Negri (Istituto Universitario Salesiano di Venezia, Italy)
Pascal – Carmen Herrando (Universidad San Jorge, Spain)
Plato – Palle Yourgrau (Brandeis University, USA)
Rousseau –Robert Chenavier (Association pour l’Etude de la Pensée de Simone Weil, France)
Spinoza – Alain Goldschläger (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
The Stoics – Fernando Rey Puente (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
III. Key Terms
Affliction – Robert Reed (Boston College, USA)
Amor Fati – Martin Andic (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Atheism – Palle Yourgrau (Brandeis University, USA)
Attention – Vance G. Morgan (Providence College, USA)
Beauty – Marie Cabaud Meaney (International Theological Institute, Austria)
Body and Matter – Lissa McCullough (California State University Dominguez Hills, USA)
Compassion – Sarwar Ahmed Abdullah (York University, Canada)
Consent – Eric O. Springsted (Centre of Theological Inquiry, USA)
Contradiction – Tomeu Estelrich Barcelo (Boston College, USA)
Decreation – Kathryn Lawson (Queen’s University, Canada)
Detachment – Stephen J. Plant (University of Cambridge, UK)
Evil – Sarah K. Pinnock (Trinity University, USA)
Force – E. Jane Doering (University of Notre Dame, USA)
God – Lissa McCullough (California State University Dominguez Hills, USA)
Gravity and Grace – Emmanuel Gabellieri (Université Catholique de Lyon, France)
Great Beast – Scott B. Ritner (University of Colorado, USA)
Imagination and Illusion – Fernando Rey Puente (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
Impersonality – Benjamim Brum (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Justice – Lawrence E. Schmidt (University of Toronto, Canada)
Labor – Robert Chenavier (Association pour l’Etude de la Pensée de Simone Weil, France)
Liberty – Alejandro del Río Herrmann (Universidad de Valencia, Spain)
Literature – Silvia Caprioglio Panizza (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic) and Philip Wilson (University of East Anglia, UK)
Mathematics – Olivier Rey (Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France)
Method – Simone Kotva (University of Cambridge, UK)
Money – Paul Clavier (University of Lorraine, France)
Necessity and the Good – Sarwar Ahmed Abdullah (York University, Canada)
Obedience – Julie Daigle (University of Ottawa, Canada)
Oppression – Benjamin P. Davis (University of Toronto, Canada)
Order of the World – Vance G. Morgan (Providence College, USA)
Power – Alejandro del Río Herrmann (Universidad de Valencia, Spain)
Reading – Lucian Stone (University of North Dakota, USA)
Roots and Uprootedness – Scott B. Ritner (University of Colorado, USA)
Science – Joseph K. Cosgrove (Providence College, USA)
Sexuality – Martin Andic (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Supernatural – Mario von der Ruhr (Swansea University, UK)
Void – A. Rebecca Rozelle-Stone (University of North Dakota, USA)
Waiting for God – Maria Clara Bingemer (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Women – Sophie Bourgault (University of Ottawa, Canada)
IV. A Bibliographic Guide
a. Weil's writings in French
b. Weil's writings in English
c. Critical literature on Weil
Index
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