4.22 Kathryn Lawson on Simone Weil and Ecological Ethics

Forum on Religion and Ecology: Spotlights

This episode features Kathryn Lawson, PhD, lecturer in philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. We discuss her new book, Ecological Ethics and the Philosophy of Simone Weil: Decreation for the Anthropocene, which was just released in the Environmental Ethics series at Routledge. We discuss her unique juxtaposition of the 20th-century French philosopher Simone Weil and the challenges that the Anthropocene poses for ecological ethics. Some of the topics covered include Weil's concepts of decreation, grace, attention, and ethical action, as well as Weil's reading of Plato as a non-dual thinker who affirms life and embodiment. This episode will surely be of interest to anyone concerned with the importance of spiritual practice for ecological ethics as well as anyone concerned with the way that the Western philosophical traditions bears upon contemporary ecological issues.