Thoughts on Ethical Growth, Strengthening of Social Ties, and Fulfilment of Good Human Life in the Sixth Wave (2010– 2050) Society, Inspired by Simone Weil
Keywords:
Simone Weil, needs, responsibilities, ethics, educationAbstract
Simone Weil (1908–1943) was a French philosopher who was interested in how to live an ethically responsible life in a modern society. According to Weil, the basic of
human being is good. The problem is that our thoughts and actions no longer match with each other. In the background, there is a problem of losing one’s roots. When
human beings are torn from their roots, then ideologies etc. have conquered their thinking and acting.
How can someone who is a bystander in his/her own life lead an ethically worthy life? Weil asks people to think their needs and how to meet them. According to Weil, people are united by genuine physical and ‘soul’ needs. Human beings share the common interest of satisfying their physical needs. However, that is not enough. Only when people take the responsibility of meeting their spiritual needs, they build bridges to other people and nature and re-establish their roots.
The humankind has to solve the tension between the destruction of civilization and a sustainable future. We now live in the so-called 6th wave (2010–2050) society, where the challenge is to strengthen solidarity-based ties in between people and in organizing work and services. In this text, I discuss what kind of ideas Simone Weil has to offer to social pedagogically motivated actors in building a sustainable future.
