Simone Kotva

Researcher - Fagseksjonen
Image of Simone Kotva
Norwegian version of this page
Email simone.kotva@teologi.uio.no
Mobile phone 22850368
Username
Visiting address Blindernveien 9 Domus Theologica 0371 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 1023 Blindern 0315 Oslo
Other affiliations Faculty of Theology (Student)

Academic interests

Philosophy of Religion, Theology, Earth Ethics, Decolonial Theology, Mysticism, Spiritual Exercises, Philosophy as a Way of Life, French Spiritualism, Simone Weil, Maine de Biran  

Background

I am a philosopher of religion working at the intersection of theology, critical theory and earth ethics. I received my PhD in 2015 from the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, and have taught at the Universities of Gothenburg and Cambridge. Currently I am research fellow at the multidisciplinary ECODISTURB project, based in the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo. I am also affiliated lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, where I design and co-teach an MPhil (MA) module, Theology in the Anthropocene. 

Research 

ECODISTURB

I lead a team of interdisciplinary PhD students mapping responses to climate change in the Nordic region. ECODISTURB is funded by the University of Oslo, UiO:NORDIC, 2020-2024. Climate crisis and loss of nature are among the greatest challenges of our times. Nordic reactions are deeply ambivalent: destruction and recreation - gift, guilt and grace. Recognising that one of the shortcomings of environmentalism has been its tendency to favour unifying perspectives, the approach of ECODISTURB assumes tension, contradiction and conflict to be the norm rather than the exception.

Image may contain: Organism, Art, Painting, Font, Rectangle.
Image copyright Diana Bechmann 2022

Effort and Grace: On the Spiritual Exercise of Philosophy 

What does it mean to practice philosophy as a way of life and spiritual exercise? My first book, Effort and Grace: On the Spiritual Exercise of Philosophy (London: Bloomsbury, 2020), offers a critical intervention and theological perspective on the legacy of Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault. I tackle the importance of Simone Weil’s concept of attention for critical theory and practice today, and situates attention within the history of French reflexive or spiritualist philosophy, from Maine de Biran to Henri Bergson. 

Review excerpts   

"[O]pening oneself to the outside, being 'attentive' to what is not human, is a profoundly ecological way of thinking and acting. [...] Kotva [...] thinks with rather than about key figures in practising philosophy as a way of life to help address a pressing contemporary issue." - Michael Barr, Metaphilosophy 

"[The] most compelling interpretation of French Spiritualism yet offered in the English language." - Oliver Keenan, New Blackfriars 

"[A] brilliant book on philosophy as a spiritual exercise." - Ola Sigurdson, Modern Theology 

Simone Kotva, Effort and Grace: On the Spiritual Exercise of Philosophy (2020)

Current Projects 

Ecologies of Ecstasy: Practicing Philosophy Through Mystical and Vegetal Being 

I am currently completing a second book on philosophy as a way of life and spiritual exercise. The book counters the common understanding of spiritual exercises as technologies of the self, and narrates the ecological thinking implicit in the concept and practice of philosophy as a spiritual exercise. I provide original and thought-provoking readings of key texts in the tradition of Christian mysticism and spiritual exercise, with a special focus on the early modern period and the work of the woman mystic and author Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717). Showing how contemplation was once thought to be an activity shared with plants, animals and other organisms, I draw on feminist theology, new materialism and critical plant studies to articulate a new approach to the practice of philosophy as a way of life and spiritual exercise.

Magic and Ecology: Spellwork for a Damaged Planet  

 

In 2019-2020 I convened Magic and Ecology, a series of online events funded by the Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Science and Humanities (CRASSH), and am currently in the process of co-editing the proceedings of that project.

Copyright Charlotte Rodgers 2020-2021
Image copyright Charlotte Rodgers 2020-2021 

Outreach 

I maintain several social media accounts (Twitter, TikTok and YouTube) where I post updates and educational content relating to my research: @thisnonhumanity. 

 

Tags: Systematic Theology, Philosophy of Religion

Publications

Books

Kotva, S. (2020) Effort and Grace: On the Spiritual Exercise of Philosophy. London: Bloomsbury.

Articles 

Kotva, S. (2021) Extasens tekniker: om andens liv och det ickemänskliga. Arche 76-77.

Kotva, S. and E.-C. Mebius (2021) Rethinking Environmentalism and Apocalypse. Religions 12(8) 

Kotva, S. (2019) The Occult Mind of Simone Weil. Philosophical Investigations 43/1-2: 122-141

Kotva, S. (2019) The Line of Resistance: Ravaisson and Bergson. Journal of Religion and Literature 49/2: 228-239. 

Kotva S. (2019) Attention: Thomas A. Clark and Simone Weil', Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry. 11(1).

Kotva, S. (2018) Attention in the Anthropocene: On the Spiritual Exercises of Any Future Science. In Political Geology: Active Stratigraphies and the Making of Life. Eds Adam Bobbette and Amy Donovan. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Kotva, S. (2018) One Question on Ritual and Religion. International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 79:3. 337-340.

Kotva. S. (2017) Sealanguage: Field Notes from the Anthropocene. PARSE Journal 6. 14-33

Kotva, S. and A. Tarbuck. (2017) The Non-Secular Pilgrimage: Walking and Looking in Ken Cockburn and Alec Finlay’s The Road North. Critical Survey 29. 33-52.

Kotva, S. (2016) The God of Effort: Henri Bergson and the Stoicism of Modernity. Modern Theology 32/3. 397-420.

Kotva, S. (2015) Gilles Deleuze, Simone Weil, and the Stoic Apprenticeship: Education as A Violent Training. Theory, Culture & Society 32/7-8. 101-121.

  • Kotva, Simone (2023). "Animism and Ornitheology: The More-than-Human Birds of Paul Rosenius (1865–1957)". In Iversen, Kristina Leganger; Mjaaland, Marius Gunnar Timmann & Oxfeldt, Elisabeth (Ed.), Naturen som gave? Tvisyn på naturen i nordisk litteratur. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215064567. doi: 10.18261/9788215064574-2023-04.
  • Becker - Lindenthal, Hjördis & Kotva, Simone (2023). Practicing for Death in the Anthropocene Reading Christian Asceticism after the End of the Human. Environmental Humanities. ISSN 2201-1919. 15(2), p. 105–123. doi: 10.1215/22011919-10422311. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kotva, Simone (2023). Initiation into Philosophy: An Introduction to Maine de Biran's Freemasonry Speeches (c. 1810). Aries. ISSN 1567-9896. doi: 10.1163/15700593-tat00012.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). "The Astonishment of Philosophy: William Desmond and Isabelle Stengers." . In Tyson, Paul (Eds.), Astonishment and Science: Engagements with William Desmond. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISSN 9781666728057. p. 61–71.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). Habit and the Spiritual Life: Perspectives from Christian Mysticism and the Philosophy of Religion . In Dunham, Jeremy & Romdenh-Romluc, Komarine (Ed.), Habit and the History of Philosophy. Routledge. ISSN 9781138735644. p. 183–195. doi: 10.4324/9781315186436-18.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). Conjuring Creation: Traditional Magic, Theology and the Earth . St. Sunniva: Forum for Norsk Kvinnelig Teologforening. ISSN 0808-2901. 2, p. 34–48.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). Science and Theology in the Field . In Harrison, Peter & Tyson, Paul (Ed.), New Directions in Theology and Science: Beyond Dialogue. Routledge. ISSN 9781032073224. doi: 10.4324/9781003240334-2.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). Cosmopolitical spiritualities of deep time reading J.G. Ballard’s mystical impulse. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology. ISSN 1363-5247. 26(3), p. 228–241. doi: 10.1163/15685357-02603010.
  • Kotva, Simone (2021). Extasens tekniker: Om andens liv och det ickemänskliga . Arche - tidskrift för psykoanalys, humaniora och arkitektur. ISSN 2000-7817. 76-77, p. 183–196.
  • Kotva, Simone (2021). Review: Being Inclined: Félix Ravaisson's Philosophy of Habit, by Mark Sinclair . Reviews in Religion and Theology. ISSN 1350-7303. doi: 10.1111/rirt.13955.
  • Kotva, Simone; Ravenscroft, Ruth Jackson & Kilbride, Laura (2021). Guest Editors' Introduction: Theologies of Reading. CounterText. ISSN 2056-4406.
  • Kotva, Simone & Mebius, Eva-Charlotta (2021). Rethinking environmentalism and apocalypse: Anamorphosis in the book of enoch and climate fiction. Religions. ISSN 2077-1444. 12(8). doi: 10.3390/rel12080620.
  • Kotva, Simone (2019). Attention in the Anthropocene: On the Spiritual Exercises of Any Future Science . In Bobbette, Adam & Donovan, Amy (Ed.), Political Geology: Active Stratigraphies and the Making of Life . Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 978-3-319-98188-8. p. 239–262. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-98189-5.
  • Kotva, Simone (2019). Danger and Potential. Expository Times. ISSN 0014-5246. doi: 10.1177/00145246198639.
  • Kotva, Simone (2019). Attention: Thomas Clark and Simone Weil . Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry. ISSN 1758-972X. doi: 10.16995/bip.732.
  • Kotva, Simone (2019). The Occult Mind of Simone Weil. Philosophical Investigations. ISSN 0190-0536. doi: 10.1111/phin.12264.
  • Kotva, Simone (2018). An Inventory of Fear . Reviews in Religion and Theology. ISSN 1350-7303. doi: 10.1111/rirt.13207.
  • Kotva, Simone (2018). One Question on Ritual and Religion . International Journal of Philosophy and Theology. ISSN 2169-2327. doi: 10.1080/21692327.2018.1474057.
  • Kotva, Simone (2017). The Line of Resistance: Ravaisson and Bergson . Religion & Literature. ISSN 0029-4500. 49(2), p. 228–240.
  • Kotva, Simone & Tarbuck, Alice (2017). The Secular Pilgrimage: Walking and Looking in Ken Cockburn and Alec Finlay's The Road North . Critical Survey. ISSN 0011-1570. doi: 10.3167/cs.2017.290103.
  • Kotva, Simone (2017). Sealanguage: Field Notes from the Anthropocene . PARSE Journal. ISSN 2002-0953. 6, p. 14–33.
  • Kotva, Simone (2016). The Soul at Work: A Reading in Romantic Vitalism. In Kimbriel, Samuel & Lee, Eric Austin (Ed.), The Resounding Soul: Reflections on the Metaphysics and Vivacity of the Human Person. James Clarke & Co. ISSN 9780227175989. p. 330–351.
  • Kotva, Simone (2016). Gilles Deleuze, Simone Weil and the Stoic Apprenticeship: Education as a Violent Training . Theory, Culture and Society. Explorations in Critical Social Science. ISSN 0263-2764. doi: 10.1177/0263276415605576.
  • Kotva, Simone (2016). Review: Culture and the Death of God by Eagleton, Terry . Modern Theology. ISSN 0266-7177. doi: 10.1111/moth.12265.
  • Kotva, Simone (2016). The God of Effort: Henri Bergson and the Stoicism of Modernity . Modern Theology. ISSN 0266-7177. doi: 10.1111/moth.12259.
  • Kotva, Simone (2014). Being Promised: Theology, Gift and Practice, by Gregory Walter . Reviews in Religion and Theology. ISSN 1350-7303. doi: 10.1111/rirt.12392.
  • Kotva, Simone (2014). Theology after Deleuze, by K. Justaert. Reviews in Religion and Theology. ISSN 1350-7303. doi: 10.1111/rirt.12264.
  • Kotva, Simone (2013). Deleuze and Theology, by Christopher Ben Simpson . Reviews in Religion and Theology. ISSN 1350-7303. doi: 10.1111/rirt.12240.

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  • Kotva, Simone (2020). Effort and Grace: On the Spiritual Exercise of Philosophy . Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1350113657. 248 p.

View all works in Cristin

  • Kotva, Simone (2024). Antropocen åndelighet. In Mjaaland, Marius Timmann; Eriksen, Thomas Hylland & Hessen, Dag Olav (Ed.), Antropocen - menneskets tidsalder. Res Publica. ISSN 9788282263016.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). Sinnenas aktivering: om magi och ekologi . In Bergström, Lena; Carlsson, Petra; Fahlgren, Sune & Halldorf, Peter (Ed.), En grönare kyrka: Teologi för klimatnödläge . Libris. ISSN 9789173879750. p. 113–116.
  • Kotva, Simone (2022). Review: Green Mass: Hildegard of Bingen's Ecological Theology, by Michael Marder . Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology. ISSN 1363-5247. doi: 10.1163/15685357-02603012.
  • Kotva, Simone (2017). Ascension: Becoming Heaven-Bent . In Milbank, Alison; Hughes, John & Milbank, Arabella (Ed.), Preaching Radical and Orthodox . SCM Press. ISSN 9780334056416. p. 121–126.
  • Kotva, Simone (2017). Stoicismens återkomst - en teologisk replik . Signum : katolsk orientering om kyrka, kultur, samhälle. ISSN 0347-0423. 2, p. 19–23.
  • Kotva, Simone (2015). Slutprincipen. Om slutet som existentiellt och politiskt imperativ. Subaltern. ISSN 1652-7046. 3-4, p. 35–41.
  • Kotva, Simone (2014). Stations: A Poem. Radical Orthodoxy: Theology, Philosophy, Politics. ISSN 2050-392X. 2(2), p. 306–322.
  • Kotva, Simone (2014). The Service: A Life of the Virgin Mary . Radical Orthodoxy: Theology, Philosophy, Politics. ISSN 2050-392X. 2(3), p. 436–446.

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Published Nov. 4, 2020 2:17 PM - Last modified May 12, 2022 2:33 PM

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