The remarkable life and work of the French philosopher and activist Simone Weil has fascinated scholars from many disciplines, with no less than Albert Camus calling her the "only great spirit of our times". Although contemporaneous with the rise of existentialism and educated alongside contemporaries such as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the creative and restless nature of Weil's thought set her apart. Equally adept at thinking across politics, philosophy, theology, ethics, literature, and science, Weil stands distinct in the canon of twentieth-century Western thought as a highly unique and controversial figure.
The Routledge Companion to Simone Weil is an outstanding survey of her thought. Thirty-seven chapters by an international team of expert contributors are divided into six clear parts:
- Contextualising Weil
- Philosophical Sources
- Key Concepts
- Politics and Society
- Interactions with Religion
- Conversations
Within these sections key thinkers and topics central to Weil's philosophy are addressed, including Plato, Kant, Marx, God, attention, love, beauty, labour and work, the body, slavery, rootedness, colonialism, fascism, Catholicism, Judaism, Indic thought, phenomenology, existentialism, feminism, literature, and many more.
The Routledge Companion to Simone Weil is an invaluable resource for anyone studying or researching Weil's thought, whether in philosophy and religious studies or related disciplines such as political theory, French literature, and Jewish studies.