Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil

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.

Foreword
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Unprecedented Conversations in an Unprecedented Time
Part I: Power, Violence and the Adversaries of Freedom
1. On Power in Simone Weil and Hannah Arendt: Contrasts and Correlations, Lissa McCullough (California State University, USA)
2. Tyranny Without a Tyrant: Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil on Bureaucracy, Marina Lademacher (University of Sussex, UK)
3. Living in Dark Times: The Seduction of Totalitarian Evil, Maria Cabaud Meaney (Independent Scholar)
4. Political Violence: A Contradiction in Terms, Rose A. Owen (University of Chicago, USA)
Part II: Political Evil and Resistance
5. We Come and Go, the World is Here to Stay: Hannah Arendt's Political Thought in Action, Elvira Roncalli (Carroll College, USA)
6. An Ethics of God's Grace to Balance a Politics of Worldly Affliction: A Weilian Companion to Roncalli on Arendt, Kathryn Lawson (Carleton University, Canada)
7. Rerooting "We Refugees": Considerations on Conditions of Displacement from Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil, Scott B. Ritner (Colorado University, USA)
8. Attention as a Contested Ethical and Political Resource: Simone Weil and Hannah Arendt on the Inner Origins of Freedom, Paolo Monti (Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Italy)
Part III: Art, Aesthetics and the Vulnerabilities of Political Appearances
9. Paying Attention to Affliction: Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil on Tragic Storytelling, Pascale Devette (Université de Montréal, Canada)
10. Embodying the In-Between: An Arendtian Reflection on Simone Weil's Venice Saved, Thomas Sojer (Universität Erfurt, Germany)
11. Beauty as the Beginning and End of Justice: Aesthetic Politics in Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil, Catherine Craig (Arizona State University, USA) and Sara McDonald (Huron University, Canada)
12. On the Power of Words, Ian Rhoad (American University, USA)
List of Contributors
Index