The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties Towards Mankind () is a book by Simone Weil. After Weil's death, her parents asked her close friend Boris Souvarine to publish her work under the title "Prelude to a Declaration of Obligations towards the Human Being." In 1949, it appeared in publisher Gallimard’s Espoir collection, edited by Albert Camus, under the title "L’Enracinement". The first English translation was published in 1952.
The work diagnoses the causes of the social, cultural, and spiritual malaise which Weil saw as afflicting 20th-century civilisation, particularly Europe, but also the rest of the world. Weil supports a significant cultural shift, stating that order means society requires a web of social relations where no one must violate an obligation to fulfill another obligation. Weil examines what she calls 'Uprootedness', defined as a near-universal condition resulting from the destruction of ties with the past and the dissolution of community. Weil specifies the requirements that must be met so that peoples can once again feel rooted, in a cultural and spiritual sense, to their environment, to their labour, and to both the past and to expectations for the future. The book discusses the political, cultural, and spiritual currents that ought to be nurtured so that people have access to sources of energy that will help them lead fulfilling, joyful, and morally good lives. A leading theme is the need to recognize the spiritual nature of work.
The Need for Roots is regarded as Weil's best-known work and has provoked a variety of responses, from being described as a work of "exceptional originality and breadth of human sympathy" to "a collection of egregious nonsense."
Background
France fell to Nazi Germany in 1940, at which time many French leaders collaborated with the Nazis as part of the Vichy Government. Since 1942, Weil was attempting to return to France. Weil was introduced to André Philip, Minister of the Interior under Charles De Gaulle, by Maurice Schumann, a fellow student of Alain. Philip wrote to Weil, saying he read her work before the war and respected her. Weil attended his lecture while he was in New York, and Philip called for a moral and spiritual revolution for a Free France, with morals superior to that of Vichy France. Philip interviewed Weil for a position in the Commiserate for the Interior in London. In 1943 Weil was hired to work there under Philip and Francis Lous Coston. Weil worked from Mayfair at 19 Hill Street in London to receive and edit reports from France, and also to write. Weil longed to be more directly involved in the French resistance, though officials rejected her more direct involvement including her effort to bring herself and nurses into war zones.
The book was written in the early months of 1943. At the time, Weil was writing an incredible amount of work, including translations of the Upanishads, What is Sacred in Every Human Being?, Are We Fighting for Justice?, Essential Ideas for a New Constitution, and Concerning the Colonial Problem in its Relation to the Destiny of the French People. 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. Weil was worried that France would rebuild with the same mistakes as the French Revolution of 1789, and Weil was concerned about Philip's vision for a new country based on universal rights which Weil felt was insufficient, advocating for a new country built on a framework of obligations and needs. Weil also argues for a patriotism not rooted in borders, but instead rooted in compassion and new relationship work and labor based on the spiritual nature of work. These arguments reflect the concern Weil and other thinkers at the time have concerning the rebuilding of a free France. The book's initial form was a report which Weil had been asked to write for the Free French Resistance movement concerning the possibilities for effecting a regeneration in France once the Germans had been driven back. The work was originally submitted along with a shorter companion essay called Draft for a statement of human obligations. "Spirituality of work", a leading theme in the book, was a concept that had occupied Weil throughout her career. According to biographer Richard Rees, her whole life's work can be viewed as an attempt to elucidate the concept, which she saw as the one great original idea of the West.The other great ideas that have occupied Western minds were in Weil's opinion borrowed mainly from the Greeks. Weil presented physical labor as the type of work most suited to developing a direct connection with God. Her analysis was informed by a year-long stretch as a factory hand and by several periods working as an agricultural labourer.
Synopsis The book is divided into three parts. Part one is subdivided into fourteen sections, each dealing with a specific human need. Collectively these are referred to as 'needs of the soul'. Part two is subdivided into three sections, dealing with the concept of uprootedness in relation to urban life, to rural life and to nationhood. Part three is undivided and discusses the possibilities for inspiring a nation. Only a small part of the book discusses the specific solutions that were of unique applicability to France in the 1940s. Most of the work discusses the general case and is of broad and lasting relevance.
Part One: The Needs of the Soul
Obligations and Rights
Part one begins with a discussion of obligations and rights. Weil asserts that obligations are more fundamental than rights, as a right is only meaningful insofar as others fulfil their obligation to respect it. A man alone in the universe, she says, would have obligations but no rights. Rights are therefore "subordinate and relative" to obligations. Weil says that those directing the French Revolution were mistaken in basing their ideas for a new society on the notion of rights rather than obligations, suggesting that a system based on obligations is superior.
Weil claims that while rights are subject to varying conditions, obligations are "eternal", "situated above this world" and "independent of conditions", applying to all human beings. The actual activities which obligations require us to perform, however, may vary depending on circumstances. The most fundamental obligation involves respecting the essential needs of others – the "needs of the soul".
Weil differentiates between rights and obligations viewing the two as subject and object. "The actual relationship between the two is as between object and subject. A man, considered in isolation, only has duties, amongst which are certain duties towards himself. Other men, seen from his point of view, only have rights. He, in his turn, has rights, when seen from the point of view of other men, who recognize that they have obligations towards him. A man left alone in the universe would have no rights whatever, but he would have obligations." Weil elaborates supporting the idea that obligations alone are independent stating "rights are always found to be related to certain conditions. Obligations alone remain independent of conditions." with obligations being a universal condition "All human beings are bound by identical obligations, although these are performed in different ways according to particular circumstances." whereas rights are conditional "...a right is not effectual by itself, but only in relation to the obligation to which it corresponds".
Weil backs up her ideas on the needs of the soul by mentioning that Christian, ancient Egyptian and other traditions have held similar moral views throughout history, particularly on the obligation to help those suffering from hunger. This, Weil says, should serve as a model for other needs of the soul. Weil also makes a distinction between physical needs (such as for food, heating and medical attention) and non-physical needs that are concerned with the "moral side" of life. Both kinds are vital, and the deprivation of these needs causes one to fall into a state "more or less resembling death".
Weil goes into detail on collectives, such as a nation."Collectives" meaning all kinds of human groups and organisations, from local clubs to national parties. She says that obligations are not binding to collectives, but to the individuals of which the collective is composed. Collectives should be respected, not for their own sake, but because they are 'food for mankind'. Collectives that are not 'food for mankind' – harmful or useless collectives – should be removed. Thus, service to a collective may require total sacrifice, but the collective is not superior to the person, similar to how sacrifice for another person may require total sacrifice without implying that one person is worth more than another.
Needs of the Soul
The remainder of part one is divided into sections discussing the essential "needs of the soul", which Weil says correspond to basic bodily needs like the requirements for food, warmth and medicine. She says such needs can mostly be grouped into antithetical pairs, such as the needs for rest and activity, or for warmth and coolness, and that they are best satisfied when a balance is struck, allowing both needs to be met in turn. In communities where all essential needs are satisfied, there will be a "flowering of fraternity, joy, beauty, and happiness".In Draft for a statement of human obligations
Order Order is the fundamental need of the soul. It consists of a just and coherent structure of obligations within society. People naturally desire to do good, but when they are pulled between conflicting duties, they can become disoriented or morally injured. True order requires understanding the distinction between needs and desires: needs are finite and can be satisfied, whereas desires are potentially limitless. For example, while a miser may never have enough gold, people can have enough bread. Just as hunger can be satiated, so too can the needs of the soul. These needs often come in complementary pairs, rest and activity, solitude and social life, requiring balance rather than excess. Order must be dynamic, continually negotiated within the changing conditions of social life. Liberty Liberty is the soul’s need to make meaningful choices. While social rules are necessary, they do not diminish liberty if they are few, clearly justified, and designed for the common good. Mature individuals will not find reasonable limits oppressive. Weil compares such limits to commonsense habits, like not eating harmful substances. Only the immature see all restrictions as infringements. Ultimately, liberty must be understood in relation to the moral maturity of the individual and the rationality of the rules imposed. Obedience Obedience is a vital need, provided it is given freely to legitimate authority. Obedience that stems from fear or the hope of reward is servile and unworthy. For obedience to nourish the soul, individuals must understand and consent to the principles guiding authority. A shared social aim, grasped by all members, lends meaning and dignity to obedience. Respect must flow both upward and downward in hierarchies for obedience to be morally sound. Responsibility The soul needs to feel useful and indispensable to others. People should be given chances (large or small) to take initiative and lead, especially in areas where they are deeply committed. This includes the ability to make decisions that affect others. The unemployed, in particular, suffer deeply from a lack of responsibility. For those with strong character, the opportunity to exercise leadership is essential. A healthy community should ensure everyone has, at some point, the chance to lead and to be accountable, reinforcing communal bonds and moral development.