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Full Idea
It is impossible to feel equal respect for things that are in fact unequal unless the respect is given to something that is identical in all of them. Men are all unequal in all their relations with things of this world.
Gist of Idea
We cannot equally respect what is unequal, so equal respect needs a shared ground
Source
Simone Weil (Draft Statement of Human Obligations [1943], p.223)
Book Ref
Weil,Simone: 'An Anthology' [Penguin 1986], p.223
A Reaction
Weil votes for some link to transcendence in each of us, but I would prefer some more naturalistic proposal for what we all have in common. There are plenty of aspects which unite all human beings, which grounds this unconditional respect.
| 23814 | Every human yearns for an unattainable transcendent good [Weil] |
| 23815 | We cannot equally respect what is unequal, so equal respect needs a shared ground [Weil] |
| 23816 | Attention to a transcendent reality motivates a duty to foster the good of humanity [Weil] |
| 23817 | We need both equality (to attend to human needs) and hierarchy (as a scale of responsibilities) [Weil] |
| 23819 | Deliberate public lying should be punished [Weil] |
| 23818 | We have liberty in the space between nature and accepted authority [Weil] |
| 23821 | Crime should be punished, to bring the perpetrator freely back to morality [Weil] |
| 23823 | Life needs risks to avoid sickly boredom [Weil] |
| 23820 | People need personal and collective property, and a social class lacking property is shameful [Weil] |
| 23822 | We all need to partipate in public tasks, and take some initiative [Weil] |
| 23824 | Where human needs are satisfied we find happiness, friendship and beauty [Weil] |