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Ideas of Simone Weil, by Text

[French, 1909 - 1943, Born in Paris. Taught by Alain. Died at Ashford, Kent, in England.]

1933 Lect 1: Materialist Viewpoint
p.28 p.28 Observing oneself in the present is impossible, and oneself in the past may be wrong
p.31 p.31 Bodies classify things prior to thought (such as chicks knowing what hits of the egg to peck)
p.43 p.43 Senses are unaware of each other, and give isolated information
p.59 p.59 Abstraction is just the character of generalisation
p.63 p.63 Associations are not lawlike, because we make arbitrary choice of which representation matters
p.87 p.87 We don't infer the straight from the twisted, because judging the twisted needs the straight
1933 Lect 2: Discovery of Mind
p.111 p.111 Pragmatists are right that science is action on nature - but it must be methodical
p.111 p.111 Explanations always concern how one thing changes into another
p.112 p.112 We call experience 'objective' when it seems necessary
1933 Lect 3: Politics and Society
p.129 p.129 Everyone is devoted to morality, if they don't have to implement it
p.140 p.140 History is scientific when it relies on accurate documents
p.151 p.151 People can't be citizens in public life if they are oppressed in economic life
1933 Lect 4: Ethics and Aesthetics
p.166 p.166 My neighbour's pleasure can't be an end for me
p.171 p.171 As the highest value, God cannot be proved
p.182 p.182 Equality is the result of unlimited freedom
p.198 p.198 If we ignore all our thoughts of the past and the future, there is nothing left of the present
1933 Prospects: Proletarian Revolution?
p.02 p.2 Spontaneous movements are powerless against organised repression
p.15 p.15 People in power always try to increase their power
p.16 p.16 War is perpetuated by its continual preparations
p.19 p.19 True democracy is the subordination of society to the individual
p.21 p.21 Even if a drowning man is doomed, he should keep swimming to the last
1934 Reflections on Liberty and Social Oppression
p.039 p.39 Marx showed that capitalist oppression, because of competition, is unstoppable
p.057 p.57 Only individual people of good will can achieve social progress
p.062 p.62 Inequality could easily be mitigated, if it were not for the struggle for power
p.065 p.64 Morality would improve if people could pursue private interests
p.069 p.69 In oppressive societies the scope of actual control is extended by a religion of power
p.073 p.73 After a bloody revolution the group which already had the power comes to the fore
p.094 p.94 The pleasure of completing tasks motivates just as well as the whip of slavery
p.097 p.97 In the least evil societies people can think, control community life, and be autonomous
p.113 p.113 Decentralisation is only possible by co-operation between strong and weak - which is absurd
p.113 p.113 No central authority can initiate decentralisation
1934 The Power of Words
p.241 p.241 Modern wars are fought in the name of empty words which are given capital letters
p.244 p.244 National prestige consists of behaving as if you could beat the others in a war
p.249 p.249 National leaders want to preserve necessary order - but always the existing order
p.255 p.255 A group is only dangerous if it endorses an abstract entity
p.255 p.255 The essence of power is illusory prestige
1936 Fragments
p.131 p.131 Dividing history books into separate chapters is disastrous
1940 Friendship
p.288 p.288 Friendship is partly universal - the love of a person is like the ideal of loving everyone
1940 The Iliad or the Poem of Force
p.183 p.183 Force is what turns man into a thing, and ultimately into a corpse
p.212 p.212 Only people who understand force, and don't respect it, are capable of justice
1940 Letters
1936-03 p.34 Relationships depend on equality, so unequal treatment kills them
1937-04c p.87 I attach little importance to immortality, which is an undecidable fact, and irrelevant to us
1940-03c p.125 When we admire a work, we see ourselves as its creator
1941-01 p.129 The cruelty of the Old Testament put me off Christianity
1941 Literature and Morals
p.146 p.146 Those who say immorality is not an aesthetic criterion must show that all criteria are aesthetic
1941 On the Concept of Character
p.100 p.100 We see our character as a restricting limit, but also as an unshakable support
p.98 p.98 We don't see character in a single moment, but only over a period of time
p.98 p.98 The concept of character is at the centre of morality
p.99 p.99 We modify our character by placing ourselves in situations, or by attending to what seems trivial
1941 Reflections on Value
p.30 p.30 All thought about values is philosophical, and thought about anything else is not philosophy
p.31 p.31 Ends, unlike means, cannot be defined, which is why people tend to pursue means
p.31 p.31 Minds essentially and always strive towards value
p.32 p.32 Truth is a value of thought
p.33 p.33 Philosophy aims to change the soul, not to accumulate knowledge
p.33 p.33 Systems are not unique to each philosopher. The platonist tradition is old and continuous
1941 Philosophy
p.38 p.38 Art (like philosophy) establishes a relation between world and self, and between oneself and others
p.42 p.42 Knowledge is beyond question, as an unavoidable component of thinking
1941 Prerequisite to Dignity of Labour
p.268 p.268 We both desire what is beautiful, and want it to remain as it is
1941 The Scientific Image
p.169 p.169 The secret of art is that beauty is a just blend of unity and its opposite
p.175 p.175 Chance is compatible with necessity, and the two occur together
1942 God in Plato
p.45 p.45 Among the Greeks Aristotle is the only philosopher in the modern style
p.89 p.89 The only legitimate proof of God by order derives from beauty
1942 Gravity and Grace
'Affliction' p.81 Without worldly affliction, we'd think this is paradise
'Affliction' p.84 It is absurd to say that evil proves life is worthless. If it were, why would evil matter?
'Atheism' p.114 My love makes me believe in God; the inconceivability of this God makes me disbelieve
'Attention' p.117 If we focus on the good, our whole soul is drawn towards it
'Attention' p.118 We seek truth only because it is good
'Attention' p.120 Beauty, goodness and truth are only achieved by applying full attention
'Beast' p.164 The collective is the one and only object of false idolatry
'Beast' p.165 There are two goods - the absolute good we want, and the reachable opposite of evil
'Beast' p.166 Our only social duty is to try to limit evil
'Beast' p.169 Charity is the only love, and you can feel that for a country (a place with traditions), but not a nation
'Beauty' p.149 Perfect works of art seem to be essentially anonymous
'Chance' p.107 We want our values to be eternal
'Contradiction' p.98 The criterion of the real is contradictions
'Contradiction' p.101 Anarchists thought (hopelessly) that empowering the oppressed would end evil
'Decreation' p.37 We just see immortality as prolongation of life, making death meaningless
'Decreation' p.38 We need love to have a good death
'Detachment' p.13 The good is a nothingness, and yet real
'Detachment' p.13 We must leave on one side the ordinary 'consolations' of religion
'Detachment' p.15 We should never desire the immortality of the people we love
'Evil' p.78 If the world lacked evil, then the evil would be in our desires, which would be worse
'Harmony' p.170 Social order is equilibrium of forces, which must be corrected when imbalanced
'Harmony' p.172 Obedience to an illegitimate ruler is a nightmare
'Harmony' p.173 Atheistic materialism must be revolutionary, because its good is in the future
'Harmony' p.175 The past is known to us but unreachable - a perfect image of eternal, supernatural reality
'Imprint' p.156 There is no oppression, or oppressive class; there is only an oppressive society
'Imprint' p.156 A citizen is defined by their subjection to the laws
'Intelligence' p.130 Wanting new discoveries blocks good thinking about what has been discovered
'Intelligence' p.131 Don't reject opinions; arrange them all in a hierarchy
'Love' p.66 Friendship is a virtue, not a state we should dream of
'Love' p.66 The soul is the intrinsic value of a human
'Metaxu' p.146 Power and money are supreme means, thus blinding people to ends
'Necessity' p.44 We should only perform the good actions which we can't help doing
'Necessity' p.44 We must be obedient, and love necessity
'Necessity' p.45 What matters about an action is not its aim, but the origin of its compulsion
'Universe' p.142 Loving others as ourselves implies varied love, and varied suffering
'Void' p.8 Higher emotions have less energy, and actions may need the lower emotions
'Work' p.179 Monotony is beautiful as a reflection of eternity, or atrocious as unvarying perpetuity
'Work' p.180 If effort is from necessity rather than for a good, it is slavery
'Work' p.181 Revolution (not religion) is the opium of the people
1942 The Work of a Free Person
p.134 p.134 Once money is the main aim, society needs everyone to think wealth is possible
1943 Draft Statement of Human Obligations
p.221 p.221 Every human yearns for an unattainable transcendent good
p.223 p.223 We cannot equally respect what is unequal, so equal respect needs a shared ground
p.225 p.225 Attention to a transcendent reality motivates a duty to foster the good of humanity
p.228 p.228 We have liberty in the space between nature and accepted authority
p.228 p.228 Deliberate public lying should be punished
p.228 p.228 We need both equality (to attend to human needs) and hierarchy (as a scale of responsibilities)
p.229 p.229 We all need to partipate in public tasks, and take some initiative
p.229 p.229 People need personal and collective property, and a social class lacking property is shameful
p.229 p.229 Crime should be punished, to bring the perpetrator freely back to morality
p.229 p.229 Life needs risks to avoid sickly boredom
p.230 p.230 Where human needs are satisfied we find happiness, friendship and beauty
1943 Human Personality
p,70 p.70 What is sacred is not a person, but the whole physical human being
p.71 p.71 The sacred in every human is their expectation of good rather than evil
p.78 p.78 The problem of the collective is not suppression of persons, but persons erasing themselves
p.80 p.80 It is not more money which the wretched members of society need
p.81 p.81 Rights are asserted contentiously, and need the backing of force
p.83 p.83 Giving centrality to rights stifles all impulses of charity
p.84 p.84 People absurdly claim an equal share of things which are essentially privileged
p.86 p.86 The only choice is between supernatural good, or evil
p.87 p.87 Genius and love of truth are always accompanied by great humility
p.89 p.89 The mind is imprisoned and limited by language, restricting our awareness of wider thoughts
p.92 p.92 Beauty is an attractive mystery, leaving nothing to be desired
p.92 p.92 The spirit of justice needs the full attention of truth, and that attention is love
p.93 p.93 Justice (concerning harm) is distinct from rights (concerning inequality)
p.93 p.93 Everything which originates in love is beautiful
p.93 p.93 All we need are the unity of justice, truth and beauty
p.94 p.94 Evil is transmitted by comforts and pleasures, but mostly by doing harm to people
p.95 p.95 Punishment aims at the good for men who don't desire it
p.95 p.95 The only thing in society worse than crime is repressive justice
1943 Is There a Marxist Doctrine?
p.163 p.163 Most people won't question an idea's truth if they depend on it
p.169 p.169 Weakness of will is the inadequacy of the original impetus to carry through the action
p.171 p.171 In a violent moral disagreement, it can't be that both sides are just following social morality
p.173 p.173 When war was a profession, customary morality justified any act of war
1943 The Need for Roots
I 'Collective' p.35 Even the poorest should feel collective ownership, and participation in grand display
I 'Equality' p.18 By making money the sole human measure, inequality has become universal
I 'Needs' p.3 People have duties, and only have rights because of the obligations of others to them
I 'Needs' p.4 Obligations only bind individuals, not collectives
I 'Needs' p.6 Respect is our only obligation, which can only be expressed through deeds, not words
I 'Obedience' p.14 A lifelong head of society should only be a symbol, not a ruler
I 'Opinion' p.28 Party politics in a democracy can't avoid an anti-democratic party
I 'Order' p.12 The need for order stands above all others, and is understood via the other needs
I 'Responsibility' p.15 A citizen should be able to understand the whole of society
II 'Country' p.93 The aesthete's treatment of beauty as amusement is sacrilegious; beauty should nourish
II 'Nation' p.118 Religion should quietly suffuse all human life with its light
II 'Nation' p.162 The soldier-civilian distinction should be abolished; every citizen is committed to a war
II 'Towns' p.63 The capitalists neglect the people and the nation, and even their own interests
II 'Towns' p.68 Culture is an instrument for creating an ongoing succession of teachers
II 'Towns' p.77 Socialism tends to make a proletariat of the whole population
II 'Uprootedness' p.43 The most important human need is to have multiple roots
III 'Growing' p.188 Education is essentially motivation
III 'Growing' p.238 To punish people we must ourselves be innocent - but that undermines the desire to punish
III 'Growing' p.250 Truth is not a object we love - it is the radiant manifestation of reality
III 'Growing' p.266 Beauty is the proof of what is good
III 'Growth' p.282 Creation produced a network or web of determinations