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Contemporary philosophers, wary of the vaulted metaphysical systems proposed by Enlightenment thinkers, have explored alternative avenues of doing philosophy. Unfortunately, these "new" philosophical systems often neglect their roots in ancient philosophical practice. The purpose of this thesis is to textually ascertain the ancient concept of philosophy as a way of life in the contemporary philosophical work of Simone Weil. This connection is demonstrated in two distinct yet related ways. The practical pedagogy demonstrated through biographical work and student lecture notes provide a distinct vision of her life's bent toward practical philosophy. In addition, her Notebooks, read in light of Pierre Hadot's interpretation of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, demonstrate the pervasiveness of this way of life in her personal textual engagement. In Weil, therefore, we find an important contemporary instance of continuing and reinterpreting the ancient philosophical practice where she finds her philosophical origin.

This thesis is an exercise in the retrieval of a critique of the moral language of rights. Grounded in her account of moral agency and her analysis of force, Simone Weil's critique of rights language goes beyond, although it contains, the Marxist view of rights language as ideological, as masking power relations. Weil argued not only that humans are unable to extract themselves from social and economic relations in order to appear equal on the political level, but also they are unable to extract themselves from the consequences of force. The thesis clarifies the Weilian appeal to examine in detail the consequences of force as a precondition to justice. Failure to conduct such an examination Weil views as a flight from reality, a consolation. Weil argued that facing the consequences of force is a virtue and requires the exercise of attention, a pivotal concept of her paradigm of renunciation. Weil's ethical category of affliction represents the psycho-social dimensions of extreme forms of victimization. Weil distinguished three objects of violation that compose reification: the body, self-interpretation and relatedness. The capacity to articulate, Weil argues, is impaired by practices which result in affliction. The recognition of muteness engenders understanding of the depth of violation. The impact of the muteness of the afflicted on the public sphere, discourse, and conceptions of justice is disclosed by the ethical category of affliction. The category of affliction discloses, not the absent voice but, the absence of a voice.

Simone Weil is best known to the world as a mystic and a philosopher. She died in 1943 at the age of 34, ostensibly because she refused the hypernutrition prescribed for the treatment of her tuberculosis. Shortly after her death, thanks to the posthumous publication of her work, she was recognised as one of the twentieth centuries most original thinkers in areas as diverse as philosophy, political history, religion, and ethics. Few writers have delved into the foundational relationship she discerned between a destructive form of suffering she called "affliction" and the experience of divine love. The present dissertation exposes how this fundamental relationship lies at the centre of Weil's life and thought. / First, we correlate biographical details of Weil's life with key insights into the reality of affliction. Second, the nature of human suffering is treated as a theological concept. Through Weil we consider the limits of creatureliness to the point at which one no longer feels a part of the human community. Third, we examine Weil's insight into the radical possibility of love in response to the annihilating experience of affliction, that is, the experience of God's love for us as well as the possibility of loving the afflicted neighbour. Finally, we consider several critiques of Weil's sense of her own identity as a woman and as a Jew, and the impact of this identity crisis on her unique understanding of the relationship between suffering and the love of God.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasilia, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Filosofia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia, 2009. / Submitted by Raquel Viana (tempestade_b@hotmail.com) on 2011-06-16T20:43:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_ThaisLemosOliveiraMaia.pdf: 359704 bytes, checksum: d373fc10867c375964470c39bf5ce899 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Guilherme Lourenço Machado(gui.admin@gmail.com) on 2011-06-17T13:28:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_ThaisLemosOliveiraMaia.pdf: 359704 bytes, checksum: d373fc10867c375964470c39bf5ce899 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-06-17T13:28:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_ThaisLemosOliveiraMaia.pdf: 359704 bytes, checksum: d373fc10867c375964470c39bf5ce899 (MD5) / Este trabalho analisa as considerações de Simone Weil no tocante à relação entre o pensamento moderno e os movimentos totalitários do início do século XX e apresenta a proposta da filósofa para o desenvolvimento de uma nova cultura, inspirada nos ideais clássicos e fundada sobre as noções de equilíbrio e harmonia. Considerando a cultura européia do período entre as duas guerras mundiais uma cultura da força, que privilegia o poder em detrimento do humano, Weil postula que é preciso rever os valores ocidentais modernos e que é preciso que os intelectuais intervenham na criação e desenvolvimento de estruturas sociais que promovam as condições de possibilidade para ampla realização do homem. Nesse sentido, o pensamento weiliano perscruta a condição mesma do ser humano e reencontra a razão supranatural, que relaciona o homem ao universo, aos outros homens e a ele mesmo, condição necessária ao estabelecimento da harmonia e da ordem no mundo. A partir dessa constatação, Weil entenderá que o desenvolvimento de uma nova cultura que se oponha à força e à opressão exige a reunião do pensamento natural com a razão supranatural, o que se pretende mostrar neste trabalho. _______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / This work analyses Simone Weil’s considerations regarding the relations between the modern thought and the totalitarian movements of the beginning of the 20th century. It presents the philosopher’s proposal for the development of a new culture, inspired by the ideals developed by the classical Greek period, based on concepts of balance and harmony. Considering the European culture of the period between the two world wars as a culture of force, that emphasizes power at the expenses of humanity, Weil argues that we must review the values of modern civilization, we need the intellectuals put in the process of creating and developing social structures to promote the conditions of possibility for the broad fulfillment of the human being. Accordingly, Weil’s thought scan the human condition and finds in this process the supernatural reason, which relates man to the universe, to other men and to himself, as the necessary condition for the establishment of the principles of balance and order in the world. From these considerations, as we intend to show here, Weil concludes that the development of a new culture that opposes to the culture of force and oppression demands that natural thought be united again to the supernatural reason. _______________________________________________________________________________ RESUMÉ / Ce travail analyse les considérations de Simone Weil en ce qui concerne la relation entre la pensée moderne et les mouvements totalitaires du début du XX ème siècle et présente la proposition de la philosophe pour le développement d'une nouvelle culture, inspirée dans les idéaux classiques et fondée sur les notions d'équilibre et d'harmonie. Weil considère la culture européenne de l'entre-deux-guerres une culture de la force, qui privilégie le pouvoir plutôt au détriment de l'humain et postule qu’ il faut revoir les valeurs occidentales modernes, qu'il est nécessaire que les intellectuels interviennent dans la création et le développement de strutures sociales qui promeuvent les conditions de possibilité pour une ample realization de l'homme. Dans ce sens, la pensée weilienne cherche avec minutie la condition même de l'etre humain et retrouve la raison surnaturelle que rapporte l'homme à l'univers, à d'autres hommes et à luimême, condition nécessaire a l'établissement de l'harmonie et de l'ordre dans le monde. De cette constatation, Weil comprendra que le développement d'une nouvelle culture que s'oppose à la force et à l'oppression exige la réunion de la pensée naturelle avec la raison surnaturelle, comme on a l'intention de montrer dans ce travail.

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