Simone Weil (1909-1943), a profound, original and influential thinker in the 20th century, was a political writer and activist, and a formidable philosopher. Her best-known writings appeared in English in The Need for Roots (1952), Waiting on God (1951) and Oppression and Liberty (1958). Albert Camus saw her as "the only great spirit of our times".

D.K. Levy is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Marina Barabas, having taught philosophy in London and Boston, is now a Fellow of the Czech Academy of Sciences.