Simone Weil - Philosopher Warrior

Join Us for a Thought-Provoking Discussion!

Our second meeting in January was a thoughtful and illuminating discussion of Marshall McLuhan and Noam Chomsky. I am now quite enamored with both of them—Chomsky in particular. Though I had heard of him before, I had never really delved into his work, and I now see how incisive he is in analyzing our media and political dilemmas.

At the end of that discussion, we agreed to explore the work of Keiji Nishitani in our next meeting. However, after further reflection, I’d like to take a more careful approach—like fishing for trout. Nishitani is a subtle and complex thinker, and I believe approaching him too rapidly may do his ideas a disservice. To build a proper foundation, we will first discuss Simone Weil in our next meeting, followed by Heidegger, and then—having built sufficient scaffolding—we will take on Nishitani.

For those eager to get a head start on Nishitani (this is not necessary as it will be fine to just listen to the podcast episodes), you could begin reading Religion and Nothingness now. It’s a hard slog, so the earlier, the better.

### Why Simone Weil?

I have a few reasons for introducing Weil as preparation for Nishitani:

• Decreation vs. Emptiness – Weil’s concept of decreation closely mirrors Nishitani’s emptiness (śūnyatā), both exploring the dissolution of the self.
• Religious Lenses – Weil approaches philosophy through Christian mysticism, while Nishitani works within the framework of Mahayana Buddhism.
• Attention vs. Non-Attachment – Weil sees attention as the highest human faculty, while Nishitani values non-attachment, which paradoxically is achieved through deep attention.
• Action and Engagement – Unlike many philosophers, Weil fully lived her philosophy. She took action in a world deeply disturbed by war, oppression, and suffering. She is, in some ways, an avatar for us in our current world condition.

### Episodes for Discussion

We will discuss the following episodes from Philosophize This!:

• Episode #175 – Simone Weil: Vessels of God
• Episode #174 – Simone Weil: The Mathematician
• Episode #173 – Simone Weil: The Need for Roots
• Episode #172 – Simone Weil: Attention

These episodes provide a solid grounding in her work. However, they do not explore her key concept of decreation in great depth. If you’re interested in that, I recommend checking out:
📖 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Simone Weil (see Sections 4 & 5 on Ethics and Metaphysical/Religious Philosophy).

How to prepare:

All you really need to participate is to listen to the podcasts and bring your ideas, curiosity, and open mind.

Please note I have limited the number for attendance. I have found a smaller group allows all to participate meaningfully. First come, first served.

Look for the bust of Socrates on the table—that’s where you’ll find us ... thinking big thoughts.

See you there!