The work of the French thinker Simone Weil has exerted an important influence on scholars in a wide range of fields. To date, however, her writings have attracted comparatively little interest from educationists. This article discusses some of the key concepts in Weil’s philosophy — gravity, grace, decreation, and attention — and assesses their significance for the arts and humanities in higher education.
Cameron, S. ( 2003) ‘The practice of attention: Simone Weil’s performance of impersonality’, Critical Inquiry29: 216-52.
2.
Fielder, L. ( 2001) ‘Introduction’, in S. Weil, Waiting for God, pp. vii-xxxiv, New York: Perennial Classics.
3.
Finch, H.L. ( 2001) Simone Weil and the Intellect of Grace, ed. M. Andic.New York: Continuum.
4.
Freire, P. ( 1998) Pedagogy of Freedom. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
5.
Freire, P. and Shor, I. ( 1987) A Pedagogy for Liberation. London: MacMillan.
6.
Kovitz, S. ( 1992) ‘Simone Weil’s dark night of the soul’ , The Midwest Quarterly33(3): 261-75.
7.
Liston, D.P. ( 2000) ‘Love and despair in teaching’, Educational Theory50(1): 81-102.
8.
Liston, D.P. ( 2008) ‘Critical pedagogy and attentive love’, Studies in Philosophy and Education27(5): 387-92.
9.
McLellan, D. ( 1990) Utopian Pessimist: the Life and Thought of Simone Weil . New York: Poseidon Press.
10.
Morgan, V.G. ( 2005) Weaving the World: Simone Weil on Science, Mathematics, and Love. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
11.
Murdoch, I. ( 2001) The Sovereignty of Good. London and New York: Routledge.
12.
Nevin, T.R. ( 1997) ‘Introduction’, in S. Weil, Gravity and Grace, pp. vii-xii, Lincoln: Bison Books.
13.
Pirruccello, A. ( 1995) ‘Interpreting Simone Weil: presence and absence in attention’, Philosophy East & West45(1): 61-72.
14.
Smith, R. ( 2001) ‘Simone Weil (1909-1943)’, in J. Palmer (ed.), Fifty Key Educational Thinkers , pp. 69-73. London: Routledge.
15.
Tubbs, N. ( 2005) ‘Simone Weil (1909-1943)’, Journal of Philosophy of Education39(2): 298-307.
16.
Von der Ruhr, M. ( 2006) Simone Weil: An Apprenticeship in Attention. London and New York: Continuum.
17.
Weil, S. ( 1957) Intimations of Christianity among the Ancient Greeks, ed. and trans. E. C. Geissbuhler.London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
18.
Weil, S. ( 1968) On Science, Necessity, and the Love of God, trans. R. Rees. London: Oxford University Press.
19.
Weil, S. ( 1978) Lectures on Philosophy, trans. H. Price. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Weil, S. ( 1997) Gravity and Grace, trans. A. Wills. Lincoln: Bison Books.
21.
Weil, S. ( 2001a) Waiting for God, trans. E. Craufurd. New York: Perennial Classics.
22.
Weil, S. ( 2001b) Oppression and Liberty, trans. A. Wills and J. Petrie. London and New York: Routledge Classics.
23.
Weil, S. ( 2002) The Need for Roots, trans. A. Wills. London and New York: Routledge Classics.
24.
Weil, S. ( 2005) ‘The Iliad, or the poem of force’, in S. Weil and R. Bespaloff, War and the Iliad, trans. M. McCarthy, pp. 3-37, New York: New YorkReview of Books.
