Simone Weil Basic Writings

'Suffering through years of misrepresentation, Simone Weil finally receives the careful editing and philosophical translation she deserves. David Levy and Marina Barabas have crafted the ideal entry point for those looking to engage with Weil's ideas in English.' - Nicolas Bommarito, Simon Fraser University, Canada

'In her meditations on justice and violence, hope and despair, greatness and humility, the natural and the unnatural, and power and human helplessness, Simone Weil has given us a philosophy for all times, but one that is especially timely in our present crises. For this thoughtfully chosen selection from her work, and their careful and learned commentary on it, Levy and Barabas deserve the gratitude of us all.' - Sophie Grace Chappell, Open University, UK

'These fresh translations do justice to Weil's prose, a window aspiring to transparency like Weil's life itself. Attention, too, is focused on the rigor of Weil's thinking, rooted in the ideal world of Plato and mathematics, while never abandoning the "real world" and the need for a universal justice to uncover its beauty. If the beauty of mathematical science did not reflect the beauty of the world "the real world would be like an ugly body in beautiful clothing", wrote the great logician Kurt Gödel. As this collection demonstrates, Weil would have agreed.' - Palle Yourgrau, Brandeis University, USA