Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil: Unprecedented Conversations

Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil were two of the most compelling political thinkers of the 20th century who, despite having similar life-experiences, developed radically distinct political philosophies. This unique dialogue between the writings of Arendt and Weil highlights Arendt’s secular humanism, her emphasis on heroic action, and her rejection of the moral approach to politics, contrasted starkly with Weil’s religious approach, her faith in the power of divine Goodness, and her other-centric ethic of suffering and affliction. The writings here respect the profound differences between Arendt and Weil whilst pulling out the shared preoccupations of power, violence, freedom, resistance, responsibility, attention, aesthetics, and vulnerability. Without shying away from exploring the more difficult concepts in these philosophers’ works, Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil also aims to pull out the relevance of their writings for contemporary issues.

Kathryn Lawson is a Lecturer and Researcher at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She is the author of Simone Weil and Ecological Ethics: Decreation for the Anthropocene as well as several journal articles and book chapters on continental philosophy, religion, and Simone Weil.

Joshua Livingstone is a PhD Candidate at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He is author of a forthcoming book chapter on Hannah Arendt and the Free Press.