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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.61342 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Roche, Patricia |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Faculty of Religious Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001318246, proquestno: AAIMM80370, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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