Friedrich H. Jacobi and the idea of idolatry in Letter to Fitche: a reading from Simone Weil

Abstract

The present work exposes and analyzes the idea of idolatry developed by Friedrich H. Jacobi in his Letter to Fitche, with the final intention of demonstrating some important similarities with the elaboration of the same concept undertaken, many years later and independently, by Simone Weil. The work will focus on conducting a primary source analysis, trying to go around the main idea from successive approaches, using other fundamental notions to define it. Finally, we will proceed to compare Jacobi's formulation with the notion of idolatry in Simone Weil, focusing on the common idea, to both authors, of a spoiled relationship between means and ends that refuses or precludes the genuine search for good.