Life at risk and life as a work of art in Simone Weil's intellectual project

Abstract

Simone Weil's (1909 – 1943) intellectual project was based on a series of written experiments that she left behind in her works. The French writer thought, wrote and proposed actions in her time through an ethical and political model that we aim to investigate in this article, to understand the historical conditions in which she was inserted, aspects of her trajectory and how she articulated references from the past in her creation of self. Based on these directions, we seek to analyze Simone Weil's intellectual making by using Michel Foucault's formulations on the “arts of existence”, identifying aspects in Weil that relate to a life of reflection, writing and action. We also propose to start a dialog between the ethical subject that was Weil and the models of sanctity that inspired her, such as Saint Francis of Assisi and Joan of Arc. Finally, we are interested in understanding the “risks” experienced by Simone Weil in choosing to be the living theater of her own truth in her work and life.