Single Idea 23749

[catalogued under 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism]

Full Idea

The chief danger does not lie in the collectivity's tendency to circumscribe the person, but in the person's tendency to immolate himself in the collective.

Gist of Idea

The problem of the collective is not suppression of persons, but persons erasing themselves

Source

Simone Weil (Human Personality [1943], p.78)

Book Reference

Weil,Simone: 'An Anthology' [Penguin 1986], p.78


A Reaction

I'm guessing that in 1943 she had in mind both Nazis and Communists. She seems to articulate a strong form of liberalism in an interesting way. It sounds like a form of Bad Faith.

Related Idea

Idea 23747 What is sacred is not a person, but the whole physical human being [Weil]