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Single Idea 23807

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism ]

Full Idea

The Great Beast is the great object of idolatry, the only ersatz of God. …Only one thing can be taken as an end, for in relation to the human person it possesses a kind of transcendence: this is the collective.

Clarification

'ersatz' means an artificial version

Gist of Idea

The collective is the one and only object of false idolatry

Source

Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace [1942], 'Beast')

Book Ref

Weil,Simone: 'Gravity and Grace', ed/tr. Crawford/De Ruhr [Routledge 1952], p.164

A Reaction

[Society as the Great Beast is in Republic Bk 6] She is referring to both fascist and communist states. Weil seems to be a left-wing liberal, with a tendency towards anarchism, because her priority is the individual, not the group.

The 39 ideas from 'Gravity and Grace'

24188 It is absurd to say that evil proves life is worthless. If it were, why would evil matter? [Weil]
24187 Without worldly affliction, we'd think this is paradise [Weil]
24192 My love makes me believe in God; the inconceivability of this God makes me disbelieve [Weil]
24193 If we focus on the good, our whole soul is drawn towards it [Weil]
23826 Beauty, goodness and truth are only achieved by applying full attention [Weil]
23825 We seek truth only because it is good [Weil]
23808 There are two goods - the absolute good we want, and the reachable opposite of evil [Weil]
23807 The collective is the one and only object of false idolatry [Weil]
23810 Charity is the only love, and you can feel that for a country (a place with traditions), but not a nation [Weil]
23809 Our only social duty is to try to limit evil [Weil]
24198 Perfect works of art seem to be essentially anonymous [Weil]
24191 We want our values to be eternal [Weil]
24189 The criterion of the real is contradictions [Weil]
24190 Anarchists thought (hopelessly) that empowering the oppressed would end evil [Weil]
24180 We just see immortality as prolongation of life, making death meaningless [Weil]
24181 We need love to have a good death [Weil]
24179 We should never desire the immortality of the people we love [Weil]
23833 The good is a nothingness, and yet real [Weil]
24178 We must leave on one side the ordinary 'consolations' of religion [Weil]
24186 If the world lacked evil, then the evil would be in our desires, which would be worse [Weil]
24204 The past is known to us but unreachable - a perfect image of eternal, supernatural reality [Weil]
24201 Social order is equilibrium of forces, which must be corrected when imbalanced [Weil]
24203 Atheistic materialism must be revolutionary, because its good is in the future [Weil]
24202 Obedience to an illegitimate ruler is a nightmare [Weil]
24199 There is no oppression, or oppressive class; there is only an oppressive society [Weil]
24200 A citizen is defined by their subjection to the laws [Weil]
24194 Wanting new discoveries blocks good thinking about what has been discovered [Weil]
24195 Don't reject opinions; arrange them all in a hierarchy [Weil]
24185 Friendship is a virtue, not a state we should dream of [Weil]
23765 The soul is the intrinsic value of a human [Weil]
24197 Power and money are supreme means, thus blinding people to ends [Weil]
24184 What matters about an action is not its aim, but the origin of its compulsion [Weil]
24183 We should only perform the good actions which we can't help doing [Weil]
24182 We must be obedient, and love necessity [Weil]
24196 Loving others as ourselves implies varied love, and varied suffering [Weil]
24177 Higher emotions have less energy, and actions may need the lower emotions [Weil]
24206 Revolution (not religion) is the opium of the people [Weil]
23811 If effort is from necessity rather than for a good, it is slavery [Weil]
24205 Monotony is beautiful as a reflection of eternity, or atrocious as unvarying perpetuity [Weil]