The Need for Roots (Paperback)

Simone Weil

ISBN 10: 0241467977 / ISBN 13: 9780241467978

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2023

About this Item

Paperback. A new translation of Simone Weil's best-known work- a political, philosophical and spiritual treatise on what human life could beAn icon of twentieth-century French philosophy, Simone Weil was described by Andre Gide as 'the patron saint of all outsiders' and by Albert Camus as 'the only great spirit of our time'. In this, one of her last and best-known works, she offers a vision of what human life could be - where the needs of our bodies are met and the needs of the soul, too, are better known and nurtured.Written in 1943, when France was occupied and Weil was working in the offices of the Free France in London, The Need for Roots responds to a plea both timely and timeless- what can satisfy the cry of our hearts for justice? In the same decade that saw the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Weil argues that rights alone are inadequate to the task - and encourages her contemporaries not to repeat the mistakes of the French Revolution and the malaise of modern life. The alternative she offers has intrigued and inspired generations of readers since. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780241467978

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Need for Roots (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241467977
• ISBN 13: 9780241467978
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

French philosopher Simone Weil's best known work that promotes mindful living and instructs readers how they can once again feel rooted, in a cultural and spiritual sense, to their environment
 
A Penguin Classic

One of the foremost French philosophers of the last century, Simone Weil has been described by André Gide as "the patron saint of all outsiders" and by Albert Camus as "the only great spirit of our time." In this, her most famous work, she diagnoses the malaise at the heart of modern life: uprootedness, from the past and from community. Written towards the end of World War II for the Free French Army, Weil's work is an indispensable and perpetually intriguing text for readers and students of philosophy everywhere. The book discusses the political, cultural and spiritual currents that ought to be nurtured so that people have access to sources of energy which will help them lead fulfilling, joyful and morally good lives.

About the Author

Simone Weil Simone Weil (1909-1943) was a French political activist, mystic, and a singular figure in French philosophy. She studied at the elite École Normale Supérieure, obtained her agrégation (teaching diploma) in philosophy in 1931, worked at Renault from 1934 to 1935, enlisted in the International Brigades in 1936 and worked as a farm laborer in 1941. She left France in 1942 for New York and then London, where she worked for General de Gaulle's Free French movement. Most of her works, published posthumously, consist of some notebooks and a collection of religious essays. They include, in English, Waiting for God (1951), Gravity and Grace (1952), The Need for Roots (1952), Notebooks (2 vol., 1956), Oppression and Liberty (1958), and Selected Essays, 1934-1943 (1962).