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Single Idea 23839
[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 2. Leaders / b. Monarchy
]
Full Idea
Wherever a man is placed for life at the head of a social organism, he ought to be a symbol and not a ruler, as is the case with the King of England.
Gist of Idea
A lifelong head of society should only be a symbol, not a ruler
Source
Simone Weil (The Need for Roots [1943], I 'Obedience')
Book Ref
Weil,Simone: 'The Need for Roots' [Routledge 2002], p.14
A Reaction
Nice to hear a radical French thinker endorsing an ancient British tradition! She may not be endorsing a lifelong head of state. Lifelong rulers are the main agents of totalitarianism.
The
21 ideas
from 'The Need for Roots'
23843
|
Even the poorest should feel collective ownership, and participation in grand display
[Weil]
|
23841
|
By making money the sole human measure, inequality has become universal
[Weil]
|
23837
|
Respect is our only obligation, which can only be expressed through deeds, not words
[Weil]
|
23835
|
People have duties, and only have rights because of the obligations of others to them
[Weil]
|
23836
|
Obligations only bind individuals, not collectives
[Weil]
|
23839
|
A lifelong head of society should only be a symbol, not a ruler
[Weil]
|
23842
|
Party politics in a democracy can't avoid an anti-democratic party
[Weil]
|
23838
|
The need for order stands above all others, and is understood via the other needs
[Weil]
|
23840
|
A citizen should be able to understand the whole of society
[Weil]
|
23848
|
The aesthete's treatment of beauty as amusement is sacreligious; beauty should nourish
[Weil]
|
23850
|
The soldier-civilian distinction should be abolished; every citizen is committed to a war
[Weil]
|
23849
|
Religion should quietly suffuse all human life with its light
[Weil]
|
23846
|
Culture is an instrument for creating an ongoing succession of teachers
[Weil]
|
23847
|
Socialism tends to make a proletariat of the whole population
[Weil]
|
23845
|
The capitalists neglect the people and the nation, and even their own interests
[Weil]
|
23844
|
The most important human need is to have multiple roots
[Weil]
|
23851
|
Education is essentially motivation
[Weil]
|
23854
|
Beauty is the proof of what is good
[Weil]
|
23853
|
Truth is not a object we love - it is the radiant manifestation of reality
[Weil]
|
23852
|
To punish people we must ourselves be innocent - but that undermines the desire to punish
[Weil]
|
23855
|
Creation produced a network or web of determinations
[Weil]
|