ABSTRACT
Simone Weil was concerned with power, developing a theory of dialogue to explain it. Influenced by her brief experiences as a factory worker, the historical experience of the Roman Empire, and the contemporary threat of Nazi ideology, Weil considers the relations between the weak and the strong, arguing that speech is an instrument of power. Weil influenced some important modern French philosophers, such as Emmanuel Levinas, Rene Girard, Paul Ricoeur, and Michel Serres. Weil's condemnation of Judaism in favour of Christianity is rooted in modern European philosophy's tendency to mistakenly dissociate Christianity from its Jewish roots. She was, in many ways, a tragic figure of acute intelligence and erudition, capable of profound philosophic insight, but also someone who was highly emotional, subjective, obsessive, even egoistic and, regrettably, often with more sensibility than sense. These conflicting aspects of Simone Weil's personality must be considered when assessing her life and thought.
