Labyrinth: An International Journal for Philosophy, Value Theory and Sociocultural Hermeneutics
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On the Utopia of The End of Alienation. Hannah Arendt (Mis)reading Simone Weil ̶ and Karl Marx
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The starting point of this paper is Hannah Arendt\u27s positive comment on Simone Weil\u27s La condition ouvrière, in The Human Condition. I first offer a brief reconstruction of Arendt\u27s interpretation of Marx\u27s analysis of labor which is the context in which the above-mentioned comment appears. This interpretation is based, I claim, on a (mis)reading which consists in a rather systematic blurring of the distinction between labor as a universal and irreducible human activity and labor in its historically determined capitalist form, which is the object of Marx\u27s critique, i.e., alienated labor. Following that, I discuss Weil\u27s construal of labor and I shed light on its affinities with the Marxian problematic. My aim is to show that Arendt\u27s comment does not do justice to the problems that Weil addresses both with and beyond Marx
Une tout autre forme d’authenticité. Travail du désir et anthropologie de la médiation chez Simone Weil
Full text linkThe aim of this article is to examine the actuality of Simone Weil\u27s concept of the impersonal, as expressed in La personne et le sacré. To this end, I address the theme of authenticity by proposing two alternative models. According to the first model, "being oneself" corresponds to the immediate self-expression. Weil\u27s critique of the "person\u27s right to self-fulfillment", on the other hand, gives rise to an anthropology of mediation, which constitutes a second model centered on the notion of work. Hence, my original contribution consists in the argumentation of the thesis that in Weil\u27s oeuvre the access to the self is structured in concordance to a "work of desire", which constitutes the human being\u27s essence. Taking up the various allusions to the "desire for the good", scattered throughout the Weilian corpus, the article unveils what this affective work, that transforms the subject, consists of, and emphasizes the importance of the experience of the transcendent Good as a condition for a free interpretation of the value of the desired goods
L\u27ennui ouvrier dans la pensée de Simone Weil. Cohérence du matériel et du spirituel
No full textThis paper focuses on one aspect of Weil\u27s philosophy of labor, which has not been studied until now: the problem of boredom. In a 1938 article, she defines boredom as the main source of suffering for factory-workers. But shouldn\u27t boredom rather occur during leisure-time, when one has nothing to do? In fact, factory work can lead to boredom, despite its frenetic rhythm and the deep concentration it implies. According Weil, boredom in factory has two main causes: monotony, and the fact that, while working, the workers lose the control over their own time. This correlation of boredom with certain conditions of work is nowadays still relevant, and it concerns modern life not only in the working sphere. It implies a critical approach to the conditions of production in the capitalist era. But it also helps to describe the paradoxical state in which, while being active, one suffers from weariness. At last, it shows the relevance of an exploration of the various aspects of modern alienation through the problematic of time. The interest in the problem of boredom therefore allows to explore two complementary sides of Weil\u27s thought: materialism and religious inspiration
Action, transcendance, incarnation. Pour une lecture unifiée de la pensée politique de S. Weil
Full text linkIn contrast to the readings that oppose a first \u27revolutionary\u27 Simone Weil to a second \u27conservative\u27 Simone Weil, this article supports the thesis of a profound continuity and coherence in Weil\u27s political thought, parallel to the overall unity of her philosophy. Just as there is no opposition between her political thought of the early and the late 1930s, there is no opposition between her \u27mystical\u27 philosophy from the period in Marseille and her "political" philosophy from the period in London. However, this does not abolish the distance that must be maintained between religion, mysticism and politics, because the "synthesis" of these levels is not historical-political, but eschatological. Ultimately, we show that Weilian thought supports both the dual necessity and the mutual insufficiency of mysticism and politics, which enables it to escape both totalitarian idolatry and the mysticism of a pure afterlife. If she ignores the opposition so common in modern thought between "Amor Dei" and "Amor Mundi", it is because she wishes to comply with the dual Platonic and Christian injunction to bring the Good down into necessity without confusing both, thus making political action the criterion of truth of political thought
Simone Weil ou la vérité des fous
Full text linkEditorial of Yvanka B. Raynova to the Special issue "Simone Weil (1909-1943): Receptions and Actuality.
Thoughtful Labor. Simone Weil on Vocational Education
Full text linkThe work of Simone Weil is increasingly important in the field of philosophy of education, however, her ideas on schooling have been largely understood from her later, religiously inspired works. This paper argues that this approach does not do justice to the fact that Weil\u27s thinking about education is already present in her earlier works and that her educational ideas were profoundly inspired by her experience as a factory worker. One of the key insights Weil gained whilst working in a factory was the importance of what she refers to as "thoughtful labor". This paper addresses this concept by engaging with the earlier work of Weil on educational philosophy. Furthermore, these ideas are juxtaposed with a German tradition in pedagogical thinking, emerging around the same time, on the notion of Berufsbildung, which indicates a combination of professional, personal and societal formation in vocational training. I argue that Weil shares with this tradition the crucial idea that work can have an educational value, and that it should be integrated into the educational system. However, the tradition of Berufsbildung has been critiqued for its strong tendency to consolidate existing power structures; I suggest that this critique is still valid on current discourses on general formation and Bildung in vocational education. In the final part of this article, I argue that on this point the work of Simone Weil differs from the notion of Berufsbildung, as she stands in a tradition of educational thinkers who remind us of the potential revolutionary character of education
Literature at the service of truth: Simone Weil and \u27L’Enracinement\u27
No full textThe purpose of this article is to elaborate the many literary allusions that Simone Weil used in her ultimate work: L\u27 Enracinement, translated as The Need for Roots, to achieve her goal of encouraging her fellow countrymen to create a new postwar society. Understanding how she used the riches of the French and Western Literary Cannon, less easily grasped by those not educated in the French Education system, enriches the understanding of Weil\u27s purpose and skill in writing on many levels, simultaneously for different target audiences. Underlying her stress on the need for truth and honesty about a county\u27s past and present, with discernable respect for every person, is her foundational belief in the spiritual destiny of every human being. Examining her literary allusions in detail to show her clever subversion of traditionally accepted interpretations brings a new dimension to Simone Weil studies, while underlining the relevance of this essay to contemporary dilemmas
Simone Weils frühes Verständnis des Totalitarismus als existenzielle Bedrohung
Full text linkComing from anarchist circles and revolutionary-syndicalist trade unions, Simone Weil initially saw herself as a Marxist and an anarchist, before increasingly becoming their early and extremely pointed critic. From 1933 on, she distanced herself more and more from the syndicalist movement in terms of content, and at the same time she was increasingly skeptical of its politics. She saw in the syndicalists, socialists, and communists no more accurate knowledge of society than in the conservatives or fascists. Moreover, she came to realize that they did not have the necessary means of action to carry out a revolution. In the assertion of the "historical mission of the working class," she saw a phrase that served the functionaries but only further humiliated and betrayed the working class. In this respect, even Marxism was for Weil still the intellectual expression of the bourgeoisie, because even a change in property relations would not have eliminated the oppression of the working class. Until the end of her life, she held that instead a radical change in labor relations was necessary to end the oppression of the working class and its social misery. The article attempts to situate Simone Weil\u27s early disillusionment with syndicalism, socialism, Marxism and Stalinism, as well as her recognition of what was widely labelled totalitarianism in Western societies at the latest after the Second World War, in her writings
Gadamers philosophische Hermeneutik: Einflüsse, Wirkungen, Debatten
Full text linkAt a time when narrow scientific and philosophical specialization dominates our academic landscape and by which respective competence is also measured, a thinking that unfolds in broad ways is often viewed with some suspicion. This, however, is not the case of Gadamer\u27s philosophical hermeneutics. Even though it has triggered various critiques and controversial debates, e.g., on the part of Habermas, Derrida, Ricoeur and others, Gadamer\u27s influence and impact is still present today in the most diverse fields of philosophy and the humanities. The editorial takes up some of these debates and shows their continuing effects on contemporary philosophy and their importance for the sociocultural hermeneutics of any shape
Hans-Georg Gadamers Sprachlichkeit der hermeneutischen Erfahrung im Wechselspiel von Vernunft und Erfahrung, Wissenschaft und/oder soziale Vorstellungen, Tradition(en) und/oder Gemeinschaft am Beispiel von Thomas Morus\u27 Utopia
Full text linkHermeneutics can be understood on the one hand as the art of interpretation, and on the other hand as a medium for dealing with the past, for conveying events, contexts or even writings in new ways of speaking for new recipients. The interpretation of writings, however, places special demands on hermeneutics: it does not take place in a sterile vacuum, but is rather embedded in a social and cultural context that shapes the interpretation or mediation and is an expression of a time, a fashion or a specific requirement of modernity. The question therefore arises as to what role reason and experience, science and/or social ideas, tradition(s) and/or community play in interpretation.
Using Thomas More\u27s masterpiece Utopia as an example, various resulting interpretative approaches to a concrete writing will be presented. Through the hermeneutic design of a historical horizon in relation to Thomas More\u27s time as well as through the development of a historical awareness of the work, the possibility of an understanding of this world-famous, still controversial writing as well as the efficiency of Gadamer\u27s philosophical hermeneutics will become recognisable