person1909–1943

Simone Weil

Disciplines:

Summary

French philosopher, mystic, and political activist — who worked in factories to understand labor, fought in the Spanish Civil War, and starved to death in England while refusing to eat more than French soldiers in occupied France were eating — whose posthumous writings have made her one of the most admired spiritual philosophers of the 20th century.

Core Contribution

Creates the philosophy of affliction and attention — Weil's argument (that the deepest moral act is paying attention to the affliction of others in a way that respects their full humanity rather than projecting our responses onto them) is the most demanding account of moral perception; it influenced Iris Murdoch and is the most distinctive contribution to 20th century moral philosophy.

Key Spikes & Highlights

Died at 34 of tuberculosis aggravated by self-starvation — she refused to eat more than French soldiers under Nazi occupation were allowed; the coroner's report listed cause of death partly as 'refusal to eat'; her death was the literal application of her philosophy of identification with the afflicted
Was refused baptism by a priest who told her she needed to stop intellectualizing and just believe — she spent years studying Catholicism, Hinduism, Greek religion, and Gnosticism while maintaining that she could not join any institution without betraying the afflicted who were excluded from it; she is the most studied unbaptized near-Catholic in modern religious history

Notable Works & Achievements

The Need for Roots

Waiting for God

Gravity and Grace

Notebooks

Historical Influences

Plato Marcus Aurelius Bhagavad Gita

Intellectual Lineage

Paris École Normale Supérieure Factory work Spain New York and London Died

Contemporaries & Peers

Simone de Beauvoir Albert Camus Georges Bernanos

Minds Influenced

Iris Murdoch Albert Camus

Intellectual Posterity

Gravity and Grace The Need for Roots Weil's attention theory Affliction

Discussing

Simone Weil

Ask anything about Simone Weil — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.

person1909–1943

Simone Weil

Disciplines:

philosophy

politics

france

Summary

Core Contribution

Key Spikes & Highlights

Died at 34 of tuberculosis aggravated by self-starvation — she refused to eat more than French soldiers under Nazi occupation were allowed; the coroner's report listed cause of death partly as 'refusal to eat'; her death was the literal application of her philosophy of identification with the afflicted
Was refused baptism by a priest who told her she needed to stop intellectualizing and just believe — she spent years studying Catholicism, Hinduism, Greek religion, and Gnosticism while maintaining that she could not join any institution without betraying the afflicted who were excluded from it; she is the most studied unbaptized near-Catholic in modern religious history

Notable Works & Achievements

The Need for Roots

Waiting for God

Gravity and Grace

Notebooks

Historical Influences

Plato Marcus Aurelius Bhagavad Gita

Intellectual Lineage

Paris École Normale Supérieure Factory work Spain New York and London Died

Contemporaries & Peers

Simone de Beauvoir Albert Camus Georges Bernanos

Minds Influenced

Iris Murdoch Albert Camus

Intellectual Posterity

Gravity and Grace The Need for Roots Weil's attention theory Affliction

Discussing

Simone Weil

Ask anything about Simone Weil — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.