Simone Weil’s “Marx”. An Analysis of the Weilian Critique of Marxism

Abstract

This essay explores the critique of Marx and “Marxism” developed by Simone Weil throughout her work. Three main cores of Weil’s critique of Marxism are identified: the validity of the materialist method for the study of the social sciences; Marx’s alleged “messianism”, understood as the conception of history as an intelligent progress toward the best; and the identification of Marxism tout court with a determinist and mechanistic philosophy.
An attempt is made to define to which “Marx” actually Weil’s critique is directed: indeed, it is argued that some of her arguments are referable to the Marxian “vulgate”, that is, to a simplified and schematic reading of Marxism, or to the “deterrent tendency” of Marxism characterized by economism and mechanism, debated even within the Second International, or to positions of Engels and Lenin, or even to the work of the PCF or workers’ organizations, rather than to the actual work of Marx.