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AN ECONOMIC THEORISTS' READING OF SIMONE WEIL*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Aviad Heifetz  and
Enrico Minelli
Aviad Heifetz
Affiliation:
The Open University of Israel
Enrico Minelli
Affiliation:
University of Brescia
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Abstract

In Economics individuals are defined by their preferences over the consequences of their own actions and the actions carried out by others. In contrast, Simone Weil depicts the individual as continuously re-constituted by the contact that he establishes with reality via his action. Such an action is aimed at achieving an effect in the physical world, but what makes it human is not success per se, but rather the fact that it stems from reasoning and planning. Affliction is caused by effort carried out mechanically like that of a beast of burden, when the individual has no opportunity to exercise reason for choosing how to confront reality's ever-challenging hazards and necessity.

Simone Weil also emphasizes the importance of the socially forged language in affecting the individual's horizon and his ability to act meaningfully. In particular, foresight cannot be assumed in situations of oppression and affliction, which are extremely hard to communicate exactly because they imply an alienation between reason and action.

These observations of Simone Weil suggest new dimensions which standard economic modelling has hitherto avoided.

Type
Essay
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , July 2008 , pp. 191 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

REFERENCES

[A]Simone Weil: an Anthology, edited and introduced by S. Miles, Grove Press, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
[DL]Prerequisite to Dignity of Labour, translated by S., Miles ([A], p. 244–256). Originally published in La Condition Ouvrière, Gallimard, 1951.Google Scholar
[HP]‘Human Personality’ in Selected Essays 1934–43 by Simone Weil, chosen and translated by Rees, R., Oxford University Press, London, 1962. Reprinted in Miles (1986). Originally published as ‘La Personne et le sacré’ in Ecrit de Londres et dernières lettres, Gallimard, Paris, 1957.Google Scholar
[LO]‘Reflections Concerning the Causes of Liberty and Social Oppression’ in Oppression and Liberty, translated by Wills, A. & Petrie, J., The University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1958. Originally published as Oppression et Liberté, Gallimard, Paris, 1955Google Scholar
[LP]Lectures on Philosophy, translated by Price, H., with an introduction by P. Winch, Cambridge University Press, 1978. Originally published as Leçons de Philosophie, transcribed by A. Renaud-Guérithault, Librairie Plon, 1959.Google Scholar
[NR]The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties towards Mankind, translated by A.F., Wills, Routledge, New York (2002). Originally published as L'Enracinement: Prélude à une déclaration des devoirs envers I'être humain, Gallimard, Paris, 1949.Google Scholar
[SL]Simone Weil: Seventy Letters, translated and arranged by R. Rees, Oxford University Press, London, 1965.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. 1996. Accounting for tastes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Myerson, R. 1991. Game theory: Analysis of conflict. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Myerson, 1999. Nash equilibrium and the history of economic theory. Journal of Economic Literature 37: 1067–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winch, P. 1989. Simone Weil: “The Just Balance”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
[A]Simone Weil: an Anthology, edited and introduced by S. Miles, Grove Press, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
[DL]Prerequisite to Dignity of Labour, translated by S., Miles ([A], p. 244–256). Originally published in La Condition Ouvrière, Gallimard, 1951.Google Scholar
[HP]‘Human Personality’ in Selected Essays 1934–43 by Simone Weil, chosen and translated by Rees, R., Oxford University Press, London, 1962. Reprinted in Miles (1986). Originally published as ‘La Personne et le sacré’ in Ecrit de Londres et dernières lettres, Gallimard, Paris, 1957.Google Scholar
[LO]‘Reflections Concerning the Causes of Liberty and Social Oppression’ in Oppression and Liberty, translated by Wills, A. & Petrie, J., The University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1958. Originally published as Oppression et Liberté, Gallimard, Paris, 1955Google Scholar
[LP]Lectures on Philosophy, translated by Price, H., with an introduction by P. Winch, Cambridge University Press, 1978. Originally published as Leçons de Philosophie, transcribed by A. Renaud-Guérithault, Librairie Plon, 1959.Google Scholar
[NR]The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties towards Mankind, translated by A.F., Wills, Routledge, New York (2002). Originally published as L'Enracinement: Prélude à une déclaration des devoirs envers I'être humain, Gallimard, Paris, 1949.Google Scholar
[SL]Simone Weil: Seventy Letters, translated and arranged by R. Rees, Oxford University Press, London, 1965.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. 1996. Accounting for tastes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Myerson, R. 1991. Game theory: Analysis of conflict. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Myerson, 1999. Nash equilibrium and the history of economic theory. Journal of Economic Literature 37: 1067–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winch, P. 1989. Simone Weil: “The Just Balance”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar