Product Description

In this remarkable work, Weil analyses the causes of oppression, its mechanisms and forms, and questions revolutionary responses while presenting a prophetic view of a way forward.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #482026 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
'We must simply expose ourselves to the personality of a woman of genius, of a kind of genius akin to that of the saints.' - T.S. Eliot

'The best spiritual writer of this century.' - André Gide

'What makes this book worth reading - and it is extremely readable - is the clarity and force of the style and the sincerity of the emotions which led Simone Weil to reflect on political philosophy ... It is a book full of interest and insight, penetrating observations and stimulating suggestions with, even in its most pessimistic passages, a humane faith and sincerity that reinforce the reader's confidence in the possibility of a humanistic, rational and liberal order of society.' - Times Literary Supplement

Synopsis
The remarkable French thinker Simone Weil counts as one of the leading intellectual and spiritual figures of the twentieth century. She was a legendary essayist, political philosopher and member of the French resistance, whose literary output belied her tragically short life. Most of her work was published posthumously, to widespread acclaim. Always concerned with the nature of individual freedom, Weil explores in Oppression and Liberty its political and social implications. Analysing the causes of oppression, its mechanisms and forms, she questions revolutionary responses and presents a prophetic view of a way forward. If, as she noted elsewhere, 'the future is made of the same stuff as the present', then there will always be a need to continue to listen to Simone Weil.

From the Back Cover
The remarkable French thinker Simone Weil counts as one of the leading intellectual and spiritual figures of the twentieth century. She was a legendary essayist, political philosopher and member of the French resistance, whose literary output belied her tragically short life. Most of her work was published posthumously, to widespread acclaim. Always concerned with the nature of individual freedom, Weil explores in Oppression and Liberty its political and social implications. Analysing the causes of oppression, its mechanisms and forms, she questions revolutionary responses and presents a prophetic view of a way forward. If, as she noted elsewhere, 'the future is made of the same stuff as the present', then there will always be a need to continue to listen to Simone Weil.