Emptiness in a Human Soul: Simone Weil’s Anthropology

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/TiCz.2024.009

Keywords

Simone Weil, theology, soul, suffering, emptiness, good and evil, God

Abstract

The article is an attempt to interpret the concept of the human soul on the basis of the writings of Simone Weil. The method chosen for the study is to combine ontological and theological remarks, that is, those regarding the world and God, in order to present the argument that to be liberated, the human soul should become empty. Therefore, classic theological problems are raised: those relating to the world (its creation, essence, destiny), those relating to truth (its understanding and finding), and those relating to goodness (the question of the human way of life that allows one to get closer to God). The relational approach to man—considering him in connection with God and the world—refers primarily to the medieval Christian tradition that views man in relation to God and to the world created by Him. In this way, the original concept of man is reconstructed whereby man is not only a creation of God, but also a participant of the cyclical appearance and disappearance of the world.

References

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Kinsella, Helen M. „Simon Weil: Introduction.” In Émigré Scholars and the Genesis of International Relations A European Discipline in America, edited by Felix Rösch, 176–196. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Kotkowska, Elżbieta. „Simone Weil’s Questions about God.” In: Phenomena of Crisis. The Paschal Dimension of Suffering, edited by Elżbieta Kotkowska, 85–102. Poznań: Wydział Teologiczny UAM, 2006.

Kuchta, Anna. „The space of Transcendance: Simone Weil and her Art of Mistical Paradoxes.” Maska 17 (2013): 93–110.

Little, Janet P. „Heraclitus and Simone Weil: the Harmony of the Opposites.” Forum for Modern Language Studies 5, no. 1 (1969): 72–79.

Shah, Maroof. „Some reflections on Simone Weil’s Mystical Response to Beckett’s Absurdism.” International Journal of English and Literature 4, no. 10 (2013): 549–559.

Wojtas, T. „Simone Weil's Views on Values.” Edukacja Filozoficzna 44 (2007): 157–169.

Weil, Simon. Gravity and Grace. Transated by E. Craufurd, M. von der Ruhr. London and New York: Routledge, 2003.

Weil, Simon. On science, Necessity and the Love of God. Translated by R. Rees. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968.

Weil, Simon. Waiting for God. Translated by E. Craufurd). San Francisco, London: Perennial Library, 1997.

Theology and Man

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Published

2024-06-30

How to Cite

1.
GURCZYŃSKA-SADY, Katarzyna. Emptiness in a Human Soul: Simone Weil’s Anthropology. Theology and Man. Online. 30 June 2024. Vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 53-70. [Accessed 27 February 2026]. DOI 10.12775/TiCz.2024.009.

Issue

Vol. 66 No. 2 (2024)

Section

Theology

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Copyright (c) 2024 Katarzyna Gurczyńska-Sady

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