Simone Weils Konzept der attention

Attention is the basis of perception, reflection, communication and whatsoever other forms of human action. To be able to get in touch with one's own attention seems to almost be a form of freedom. And yet the control over this »only power that is ours« (Simone Weil) has its limits because the point of attention is always accompanied by an experience of self-withdrawal. Nina Heinsohn interprets the work of Simone Weil (1909-1943) by carving out her concept of attention as the hermeneutical key to the French philosopher's œuvre. She shows both that and how Weil presents a concise, distinguished and phenomenologically-based concept that promises new prospects for various debates in the philosophy of religion and theological anthropology, such as the discourses on imagination and creativity, gaze and desire, waiting and expectation or contemplation and prayer.