updated 2mo ago
Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
- To attend means not to seek, but to wait; not to concentrate, but instead to dilate our minds. We do not gain insights, Weil claims, by going in search of them, but instead by waiting for them: “In every school exercise there is a special way of waiting upon truth, setting our hearts upon it, yet not allowing ourselves to go out in search of it... ... See more
from Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
Alex Dobrenko added 9mo ago
- Compassion, in contrast, means that I identify with the afflicted individual so fully that I feed him for the same reason I feed myself: because we are both hungry. In other words, I have paid him attention.
from Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
Alex Dobrenko added 9mo ago
- Rather than the contracting of our muscles, attention involves the canceling of our desires; by turning toward another, we turn away from our blinding and bulimic self. The suspension of our thought, Weil declares, leaves us “detached, empty, and ready to be penetrated by the object.”
from Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
Alex Dobrenko added 9mo ago
- Normally, when we pay attention to someone or something, we undertake what Weil calls a “muscular effort”: our eyes lock on another’s eyes, our expressions reflect the proper response, and our bodies shift in relation to the object to which we are paying attention. This kind of attention flourishes in therapists’ offices, business schools, and fune... See more
from Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
Alex Dobrenko added 9mo ago
muscular effort vs reflective attention
- Understanding comes only when we let go of our self and allow the other to grab our full attention. In order for the reality of the other’s self to fully invest us, we must first divest ourselves of our own selves.
from Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention by Robert Zaretsky
Joseph added 2mo ago
- Complete attention,” Weil declared, “is like unconsciousness.” As such, it is a state that does not entail a particular action or stance, but instead suggests a form of reception, open and nonjudgmental, of the world.
from Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention by Robert Zaretsky
Joseph added 2mo ago