Editing Simone Weil (section)

==London Writing Period ==
[[File:Simone Weil plaque - NYC home.jpg|thumb|221x221px|A commemorative plaque on the exterior of the apartment building on [[Riverside Drive (Manhattan)|Riverside Drive]] in [[New York City]] where Weil lived in 1942]]
In 1942, Weil travelled to the United States with her family. She had been reluctant to leave France, but agreed to do so as she wanted to see her parents to safety and knew they would not leave without her. She was also encouraged by the fact that it would be relatively easy for her to reach Britain from the United States, where she could join the [[French Resistance]]. She had hopes of being sent back to France as a covert agent.<ref>Simone Pétrement (1988); chpt. 15 'Marseilles II', see esp. pp. 462-463.</ref> Weil was introduced to [[André Philip]], Minister of the Interior under De Gaulle, by [[Maurice Schumann]], a fellow student of Alain.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Weil |first1=Simone |title=The need for roots: prelude to a declaration of obligations towards the human being |last2=Kirkpatrick |first2=Kate |date=2023 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-241-46797-8 |series=Penguin classics |location=UK USA |translator-last=Schwartz |translator-first=Ros |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Phillip wrote to Weil, saying he read her work before the war and respected her.<ref name=":1" /> Weil attended his lecture while he was in New York, and Phillip called for a moral and spiritual revolution for a [[Free France]], with morals superior to that of [[Vichy France]].<ref name=":1" /> Phillip interviewed Weil for a position in the Commissariat for the Interior in London.<ref name=":1" /> In 1943 Weil was hired to work there under Phillip and Francis Louis Coston.<ref name=":1" /> She was limited to desk work in London analyzing reports from resistance movements, although this did give her time to write one of her largest and best known works: ''[[The Need for Roots]]''.<ref>This was originally a lengthy report on options for regenerating France after an allied victory, though it was later published as a book.</ref> 

During this time Weil would also rapidly write many other texts including ''Draft for a Statement of Human Obligations'' and ''Note on the General Suppression of Political Parties,'' translations of sections of the ''[[Upanishads]], What is Sacred in Every Human Being?, Are We Fighting for Justice?, and Essential Ideas for a New Constitution,'' and ''Concerning the Colonial Problem in its Relation to the Destiny of the French People.''<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":1" /> These ideas influenced the Need for Roots, and Weil began to envision a world where the Allies obtained victory and a new France could be built.<ref name=":1" /> Weil was worried that France would rebuild with the same mistakes as the [[French Revolution|French Revolution of 1798]], and Weil was concerned about Phillip's vision for a new country based on [[Human rights|universal rights]] which Weil felt was insufficient, advocating instead for a new country built on a framework of [[Obligation|obligations]] and needs.<ref name=":1" /> Weil also argues for a [[patriotism]] not rooted in borders, but instead rooted in [[compassion]]. These arguments reflect the concern Weil and other thinkers at the time have concerning the rebuilding of a free France.<ref name=":1" />

While Weil wrote furiously during this period sending a plethora of proposals though she was frustrated by feeling she was too safe and not doing enough to address the suffering.{{r|Zaretsky|p=11}} [[Charles De Gaulle|De Gaulle]] rejected her plans and forces were not willing to send her back to France to join the resistance more directly.{{r|Zaretsky|p=11}} There is now evidence that Weil was recruited by the [[Special Operations Executive]], with a view to sending her back to France as a clandestine wireless operator. In May 1943, preparations were underway to send her to [[Thame Park]] in Oxfordshire for training, but the plan was cancelled soon after, as her failing health became known.<ref>[http://blog.seteuropeablaze.com/2012/11/simone-weil.html "Simone Weil" by Nigel Perrin]. {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121210045454/http://blog.seteuropeablaze.com/2012/11/simone-weil.html |date=10 December 2012 }}</ref><ref>Simone Weil Personal File, ref. HS 9/1570/1, National Archives, Kew</ref>

[[File:SimoneWeilGraveAug2012.jpg|thumb|right|Weil's grave in Bybrook Cemetery, [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]], [[Kent]], August 2012]]The rigorous work routine she assumed soon took a heavy toll. Weil was found slumped on the floor of her apartment, emaciated and exhausted.{{r|Zaretsky|p=12}} In 1943, Weil was diagnosed with [[tuberculosis]] and instructed to rest and eat well. However, she refused special treatment because of her long-standing [[political idealism]] and her detachment from material things. Instead, she limited her intake to what she believed residents of [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German-occupied France]] ate. She most likely ate even less, as she refused on most occasions. It is possible that she was baptized during this period.<ref>Eric O. Springsted, "The Baptism of Simone Weil" in Spirit, Nature and Community: Issues in the Thought of Simone Weil (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994) - https://sunypress.edu/Books/S/Spirit-Nature-and-Community.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=TIME |date=1951-10-01 |title=Religion: Was She a Saint? |url=https://time.com/archive/6868176/religion-was-she-a-saint/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Her condition quickly deteriorated and she was moved to a [[sanatorium]] at [[Grosvenor Hall (estate)|Grosvenor Hall]] in [[Ashford, Kent]].<ref name="Coles" />