On Attention

Simone Weil was a French philosopher and political activist who lived a relatively short but spirited life between 1909-1943. Uncommon for a left-wing intellectual, she became increasingly mystical throughout her life. Weil's intellectual focus on attention is one of her most significant philosophical ideas. For Weil, attention was both an ethical exploration and a metaphysical theme. Weil's concept of attention is not only based on abstract philosophical theory; it contains the experience of profound and embodied empathy. This essay will explore Weil's notion of attention and how it varies from the general understanding of the term. Furthermore, I will probe the relevance of her notion and highlight the significance of attention in today's world.

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Weil's attention differs from our modern understanding of the word. It is not about desiring attention from an egocentric place, for example, by posting something online, hoping that people will pay attention to it. Nor is it about paying attention as a means of concentration, for example, by taking notes during a lecture. Weil’s attention runs much deeper than the superficial meaning we generally give to the word. As Weil illustrates, attention cannot be forced but instead involves what she describes as a negative effort, which consists of resigning all ego-driven pursuits and wishes and emptying one's mind to the boundless possibilities of the unknown.[1] Weil's attention involves relinquishing all assumptions and allowing a void to form to be filled with a naked truth.[2] Weil likens attention to a silent prayer that makes a request to God for the gifts of truth and grace. The words attention (attention) and waiting (attendre) are similar in French, which may illustrate why Weil uses the analogy of waiting to communicate her concept of attention. Weil insists that waiting is the opposite of searching. Rather than forcing answers based on false assumptions to satisfy the ego, one must wait for the truth to appear. Surrendering to emptiness is a crucial requirement to be ready to receive the gifts of truth and grace. Accordingly, attention must possess the virtues of patience and openness.

Weil argues that attention gives spiritual practice a form that reaches far beyond knowing the self and asserts that knowing the other is far more beneficial to our individuation and collective evolution. In her writing, she suggests a meditative approach to attention, yet in a sense, Weil's attention is contrary to the mindfulness movement we see in meditation circles today. Mindfulness aims to focus on one thing at a time, whereas Weil’s attention is about losing focus and forgetting the self. Instead, Weil seeks a sort of mindlessness. Waiting for the truth to be revealed and emptying the mind could be likened to the Zen Buddhist notion of the beginner's mind. Likewise, Weil would suggest that one ignore the classic Platonic know thyself and instead practice knowing the other. Weil calls it decreation.[3] Iris Murdoch calls it unselfing.[4] In essence, attention seeks to remove the shrouds of self that blind one to the reality of the other.[5]

A conventional understanding of love and attachment does not drive Weil either. Weil replaces the traditional concept of romantic love with the idea of a passive alignment with another. For Weil, attention is the sincerest act of love, and the greatest gift one can give to another.[6] Weil's process of decreation involves renouncing oneself as one leans towards the other. She says, 'The soul empties itself of all its own contents in order to receive into itself the being it is looking at just as he is in all his truth'.[7] Her idea of attachment involves relinquishing being the centre of one's own universe so one may step inside the mind of the other.[8] It is a rare example of unconditional love and a most profound form of generosity. It allows one to receive both the beauty and the pain of another, embracing them in their totality. It requires accessing a contrasting reality outside of the self, ultimately evolving into a union of opposites and allows a deep love to form between two people that have nothing in common except for the patience to understand each other. It provides a solid foundation for enduring love and a remedy to egocentric relationship dynamics. It offers a deep and authentic connection, where intimacy is preserved in an atmosphere of empathy, consideration, and gratitude.

Weil's understanding of attention also has tremendous ethical implications. It contains an element of altruism and self-sacrifice that allows the other adequate space to co-exist.[9] These virtues give it a certain vulnerability and authenticity that the intellect lacks. For Weil, understanding another's suffering on an intellectual level was not enough. She had to experience it for herself. For example, although Weil was affluent, she insisted on working in a factory to understand the lived experience of factory workers. She lived her entire life making sacrifices in solidarity with the oppressed. Weil combined her intellect and heart in rare and beautiful displays of genuine compassion. Weil emphasised that unless one places oneself in the experience of the other and feels with them, one simply cannot understand.[10] To feel with another, rather than for another, marks the difference between Weil's notion of attention and ordinary attention; much like the difference between empathy and sympathy. Only the faculty of attention permits true solidarity and compassion. In the words of Weil, 'the love of our neighbour in all its fullness simply means being able to ask him; what are you going through?'.[11]

Camus claimed that the only real philosophical question is whether one should stay in this world or willingly leave it. Staying in this world authentically and existing with integrity requires courage; yet Weil seemed to be completely absent of the inertia many of us experience when attempting to live courageously in alignment with our values. Weil always chose the path that cost her the most. There was not the slightest discrepancy between her values, her words and her actions. She always followed her heart, and when her heart called her towards God while all her contemporaries were talking about atheism, existentialism, and nihilism, she followed. Weil never followed the herd; she was too busy paying attention to her heart.

I believe that philosophy should be approached with a sense of wonder and reverence that pushes beyond rationality. A world without mystery is one where power rules and wonder retreats; essentially, a flat and empty world devoid of meaning.[12] Weil viewed attention as an essential ingredient for living a life of connectedness and meaning, as well as a bridge to communing with the divine. She observed, 'the quality of the attention counts for much in the quality of the prayer.'[13] In Gravity and Grace, she writes, 'the better we are able to conceive of joy, the purer and more intense will be our suffering in affliction and compassion for others.'[14] Weil’s notion of attention was undeniably mystical. With all her intellectual acumen, she nonetheless concluded that the most profound thing we can experience in life is a mystery. One can try and articulate the experience of paying proper attention, yet it remains a mystery. Weil's spirituality and mysticism were not diversions away from her intellect; they were extensions of her intelligence and her compassion for humanity. She observed that an analysis of the parts can never quite capture the beauty of the mystery, yet it is often a gateway to divine truth.[15] Weil's notion of attention permits the mystical to exist without any intellectual understanding of it.

Weil's ideas on attention in today's culture of narcissism are pertinent. I would argue that narcissism is one of the most disturbing psychological epidemics of our time. In contemporary culture, narcissism is rewarded, empathy is scarce and losing oneself to pay attention to another is viewed as a waste of time. We seek a futile sense of meaning and answers to our existence through the trappings of the ego: status, money, and power.  We are in constant competition with one another, and rates of depression and anxiety are unfathomably high. Our capitalist-driven, hyperactive, egocentric culture is in dire need of a lesson on attention. We must uncover an intrinsic sense of humanity to genuinely connect with each other. Weil's thoughts remind me of the Taoist notion of yin and yang. Yang is regarded as masculine energy; it is active, it seeks logical answers, and it uses force. Yin is regarded as feminine energy; it is open, it is patient, and it receives. As the patriarchy ever so slowly crumbles, I cannot resist thinking about how Weil's notion of attention is fundamentally yin, and how Western culture is so overtly yang. We must restore balance. In Weil's words, 'the capacity to give one's attention to a sufferer is a rare and difficult thing; it is almost a miracle; it is a miracle.'[16] With all the suffering on this planet, this world is desperate for a miracle. Perhaps attention is the miracle that this world needs.

Simone Weil was a philosopher who lived with an unwavering sense of authenticity, in steady alignment with her values. She understood the immense value of paying proper attention and how it forms the foundation for love, beauty, truth, and grace. Weil is unquestionably correct in her emphasis on attention as the basis for everything that gives our lives meaning. She approached her focused study of attention with a sense of wonder and reverence towards the other; a quality missing in contemporary society which could be justifiably blamed for much of the suffering we see in the world today. In my view, a world without attention is a world devoid of compassion, a wretched world for society's most vulnerable and an empty world at best. Weil's notion of attention is a potent combination of empathy and vulnerability that initiates profound spiritual expansion and personal transformation.

References

Driver J, Love and Unselfing in Iris Murdoch (2020) 87 Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements 169 <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/royal-institute-of-philosophy-supplements/article/abs/love-and-unselfing-in-iris-murdoch/9DE2358DEABF42AFCDD348DBC701A2AA> accessed 16 July 2022

Hollingsworth A, Simone Weil and the Theo-Poetics of Compassion (2013) 29 Modern Theology 203

Springsted E, Chapter Title: Love and Intellect, Book Title: Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century (Notre Dame Press 2021)

Springsted E, Chapter Title: Mystery and Philosophy, Book Title: Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century (Notre Dame Press 2021)

Weil S, Gravity and Grace (University Of Nebraska Press 1997)

Weil S, Waiting for God (Routledge 2021)

[1] Andrea Hollingsworth, ‘Simone Weil and the Theo-Poetics of Compassion’ (2013) 29 Modern Theology 203.

[2] Andrea Hollingsworth, ‘Simone Weil and the Theo-Poetics of Compassion’ (2013) 29 Modern Theology 203.

[3] Andrea Hollingsworth, ‘Simone Weil and the Theo-Poetics of Compassion’ (2013) 29 Modern Theology 203.

[4] Julia Driver, ‘Love and Unselfing in Iris Murdoch’ (2020) 87 Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements 169.

[5] Eric Springsted, ‘Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century’ (Notre Dame Press 2021).

[6] Eric Springsted, ‘Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century’ (Notre Dame Press 2021).

[7] Simone Weil, Waiting for God (Routledge 2021). p 103

[8] Eric Springsted, ‘Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century’ (Notre Dame Press 2021).

[9] Eric Springsted, ‘Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century’ (Notre Dame Press 2021).

[10] Simone Weil, Waiting for God (Routledge 2021).

[11] Simone Weil, Waiting for God (Routledge 2021). p 102

[12] Eric Springsted, ‘Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century’ (Notre Dame Press 2021).

[13] Simone Weil, Waiting for God (Routledge 2021). p 94

[14] Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace (University Of Nebraska Press 1997). P 136

[15] Eric Springsted, ‘Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century’ (Notre Dame Press 2021).

[16] Simone Weil, Waiting for God (Routledge 2021). p 102