”Det korta uppehåll mellan impuls och handling, där en tanke kommer in”. Simone Weil om avskildhetens betydelse

Abstract

This text views Simone Weils thinking, both in its political, philosophical and religious expressions, in the light of the concept of detachment. Through a discussion of the most fruitful, both literal and philosophical, rendering of the concept, the author tries to defend it from its critics. Detachment, the text argues, is not to be understood as a Stoic concept, turning away from individual reality, but as offering a generous affirmation of otherness. This understanding is supported through a comparative reading of the mystic Master Eckehart, whom, like Weil, did not pursue his mystical insights at the cost of an appreciation of everyday living. In both thinkers metaphysical and mystic thought is on a par with ethical considerations.