Simone Weil: Attention to the Real

by Robert Chenavier, Bernard E. Doering (Translator)

How can we articulate the intimate demand of the spiritual life and the struggle for solidarity? These two issues have often been treated separately; in Simone Attention to the Real , however, Robert Chenavier explores the work of Simone Weil (1909–1943) and demonstrates how she brought them together in a single movement of thought. "Our time has a unique mission, calling for the creation of a civilization based on the spirituality of work," she wrote near the end of her short life. Her experience as a militant and the call of the divine nurtured in her writing an intense and unwavering defense of this new civilization, backed by her personal sense of intellectual, moral, and political responsibility. Originally published in French in 2009, Simone Attention to the Real leads the reader through her earliest writing as a perceptive social critic to her work on spirituality and materialism, and finally to her extraordinary concept of decreation, produced before her death at the age of thirty-four. "To an exceptional degree," Chenavier says, "the life of Simone Weil, her personality, her commitment, and her reflection form one single whole." Chenavier argues that Weil's vocation took on a very original form in the history of philosophical thought. He is especially concerned with Weil's philosophical writings on the concept of work, which remain relevant today, and which provide an important key to her thinking throughout her life. Bernard Doering's superb translation brings to English readers Chenavier's succinct account of Simone Weil's life and an illuminating introduction to her philosophical thought.

Genres: Philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Becky Caiger]

I cannot express how much love I have for this woman

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this in full twice now, and I'm not fully convinced of Chenavier's reading of Weil. In almost every respect he should be, and is regarded as one of her best living commentators. I find the way he navigates the question of her antisemitism rather hand-wavey, although hopefully he addresses this more directly in his (yet untranslated) book on the subject. His clarity of understanding Weil is really remarkable. But I think that his own commitments against Marxism lead him to miss certain key details from her early and later work that should be more closely attended to by her commentators.

[Santiago Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an article recently with a brief mention of Simone Weil. I checked out of the library this book and her own writing "Enracinement". This is a sketch review of some of her philosophy and very short biography. It is probably a good reference for distilling her work and getting a flavor for whether her work is worth pursuing. I am finding her a very interesting philosopher. She really tried to find practical applications for her philosophy and at times worked in working class jobs. She threw her all into her life's work and probably cut short her life in her mid-30s as a result. If you can cut through a few things that no longer apply you will see many of our contemporary problems exposed in her work. She comes across almost as a saint. Her work although clearly based from a Catholic standpoint is also ecumenical except for an apparent hatred of Judaism. Some of this is because Judaism contradicts some of her work but there also seems to be some self-hatred(she had Jewish ancestry)/bigotry. Anyway, a philosopher I look forward to getting to know more.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in my apartment. Found the combining/distilling effect of this kind of bothersome to read. Though it helped to have access to her writings from books I haven’t read yet. The interpretations seemed relatively solid. I particularly enjoyed the last chapter about decreation, one of my favourite themes in Weil’s work. This encouraged me to return to “the need for roots.”

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the philosophy and perception of Simone Weil, docking two stars for a very awkward text and translation.