Description
Book SynopsisSimone Kotva is a research fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where she teaches philosophical theology. She has published articles on French spiritualism, the philosophy of attention, and metaphysics.
Trade ReviewEffort and Grace is a captivating book that guides us through a tradition of French philosophical thought rarely discussed outside of France ... [It] is an important book for anyone who shares an interest in the critical and constructive potential of the notion of grace for contemporary approaches that want to resist the reduction of spirituality to a modern project wholly centred on the volitional effort of the ego. * The Heythrop Journal *
Simone Kotva’s
Effort and Grace makes several contributions, not the least of which is a critique of Hadot’s work by drawing on the French spiritualist tradition which Hadot himself was indebted to. Kotva’s book should be read by anyone who claims inspiration from Hadot or the growing literature around spiritual exercises. * Metaphilosophy *
Kotva’s
Effort and Grace is both a brilliant intervention in the contemporary debate over philosophy as spiritual practice and a compelling argument for the importance of Simone Weil to this discussion. Kotva’s book is also the most powerful and erudite treatment of the philosophy of French Spiritualism I am aware of in English. A significant work that is also a delight to read. * Jacob Sherman, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, California Institute for Integral Studies, USA *
Increasingly it is seen that there are not two schools of modern philosophy: Analytic and Continental but three: English Empiricism, German Idealism and French Spiritualism. This books serves as a truly excellent and absorbing English introduction to this 'third way', with its extraordinary combination of introspection and realism, humanism and naturalism, mysticism and speculation, that render it so fitted to our new Twenty-First Century concerns and crises. * John Milbank, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Politics and Ethics, University of Nottingham, UK *
In this pioneering monograph, Kotva shows how philosophy as spiritual exercise plays a crucial part in one current of modern, as well as all of ancient philosophy. As a result, Simone Weil is elevated to a position of central importance: her Christian hesitation between revived ancient schools demonstrates how the philosophical question of correct attention to reality is an integrally existential as well as conceptual matter. This book brilliantly demonstrates how Weil’s life and her thought continue to resonate with the deepest issues of our times. * Catherine Pickstock, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge, UK *
Table of ContentsPreface 1 The spiritual exercise of philosophy: two ideals 2 The spiritual life: Maine de Biran 3 Grace: Félix Ravaisson 4 Effort: Henri Bergson and Alain (Émile Chartier) 5 The paradox of attention: Simone Weil 6 Epilogue: Reclaiming attention Bibliography Index
