Episode #173 - Simone Weil - The Need For Roots

Simone Weil - The Need For Roots

This episode explores the moral and philosophical journey of Simone Weil, focusing on her belief that real understanding and ethical clarity come not from abstract theorizing, but from firsthand experience and radical empathy. Through personal anecdotes and reflections on Weil’s life—her time working in factories, her thoughts on colonialism, and her critique of human rights discourse—the episode highlights Weil’s emphasis on the “needs of the soul,” such as order, liberty, and rootedness, as essential to human flourishing. It also introduces her concept of decreation, a spiritual practice of renouncing the ego to cultivate a new kind of attention—one capable of truly seeing others in their sacred, impersonal humanity. Rather than advocating for political revolution, Weil calls for a transformation in how we perceive and respond to suffering, urging a spiritual revolution rooted in compassion, attention, and lived experience.

Recommended Reading

"Simone Weil: A Brief Introduction" by Stephen Plant (2007)

"Simone Weil (Penguin Lives)" by Francine Du Plessix Gray (2001)

"Waiting for God" by Simone Weil (1951)

See the full transcript here.