René Girard (1923—2015) René Girard’s thought defies ion. He has written si from the perspective of a wide variety of disciplines: Literary Criticism, Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, His ‘ory, Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology. Although he rarely calls himself a philosopher, many philosophical implications can be derived from his work. Girard’s work is above all concerned with Philosophical Anthropology (that is, ‘What is it to be human?’), and draws from many disciplinary perspectives. Over the years he has developed a mimetic theory. According to this theory human beings imitate each other, and this eventually gives rise to rivalries and violent conflicts. Such conflicts are partially solved by a scapegoat mechanism, but ultimately, Christianity is the best antidote to violence. Perhaps Girard’s lack of specific disciplinary affiliation has promoted a slight marginalization of his work among contemporary philosophers. Girard is not on par with more well known French contemporary philosophers (for example Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze, Lyotard), but his work is becoming increasingly recognized in the humanities, and his commitment as a Christian thinker has given him prominence among theologians. Table of Contents 1. Life 2. Mimetic Desire a, External Mediation b. Internal Mediati ion c. Metaphysical Desire d. The Oedipus Complex 3. The Scapegoat Mechanism a the Origins of Culture b. Religion c. Ritual d. Myth e. Prohibitions& . The Uniqueness of the Bible and Christianity a. The Hebrew Bible b. The New Testament ¢. Nietzsche's Criticism of Christianity 4. Apocalypse and Contemporary Culture . Theological Implications a. God b. The Incarnation c. Satan 4d. Original Sin e. Atonement w 6. Criticisms a, Mimetic Theory Claims Too Much b. The Origins of Culture are Not Verifiable c. Girard Exaggerates the Contrast Between Myths and the Bible 4. Christian Uniqueness Does Not Imply a Divine Origin e. Lack of a Precise Scientific Language 7. References and Further Reading a. Primary b. Secondary 1. Life René Girard was born on December 25, 1923, in Avignon, Franc archivist, and he went on to follow his father’s footsteps. He studied in Paris’ Ecole Nationale des Chartes, and specialized in Medieval studies. In 1947, Girard took the opportunity to He was the son of a local emigrate to America, and pursued a doctorate at Indiana University. His dissertation was on Americans’ opinions about France. Although his later work has had little to do with his doctoral dissertation, Girard has kept a live interest in French affairs. After the completion of his doctorate, Girard began to take interest in Jean-Paul Sartre's work. Although on a personal level Girard is still very much interested in Sartre’s philosophy, it has had little influence on his thought. Girard settled in America, and has taught at different institutions (Indiana University, State University of New York in Buffalo, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Bryn Mawr and Stanford) until his retirement in 1995. He died in 2015. During the beginning of his career as lecturer, Girard was assigned to teach courses on European literature; he admits he was not at all familiar with the great works of European novelists. As Girard began to read the great European novels in preparation for the course, he became especially engaged with the work of five novelists in particular: Cervantes, Stendhal, Flaubert, Dostoyevsky and Proust.His first book, Mensonge Romantique et Vérité Romanesque (1961), is a literary comment on As he ious conversions of some of Dostoyevsky’s characters, he felt he had lived a similar experience, and converted to Christianity. Ever since, Girard has been a committed and practicing Roman Catholic. the works of these great novelists. Until that time, Girard was a self-declared agnostic. researched the reli After the publication of his first book, Girard turned his attention to ancient and contemporary sacrifice rituals, as well as Greek myth and tragedy. This led to another important book, La Violence et le Saeré (1972), for which he gained much recognition. On a personal level, he was a committed Christian, but his Christian views were not publicly expressed until the publication of Des Choses Cachées Depuis la Fondation du Monde (1978), his magnum opus, and best systematization of his thought. Ever since, Girard has written books that expand various aspects of his work. In 2005, Girard was elected to the Académie Francaise, a very important distinction among French intellectuals. 2. Mimetic Desire Girard’s fundamental concept is ‘mimetic desire’. Ever since Plato, students of human nature have highlighted the great mimetic capacity of human beings; that is, we are the species most apt at imitation. Indeed, imitation isthe basic mechanism of learning (we learn inasmuch as we itate what our teachers i structure promotes imitation very proficiently (for example, ‘mirror neuro do), and neur ingly reporting that our neural However, according to Girard, most thinking devoted to imitation pays little attention to the fact that we also imitate other people’s desires, and depending on how this happens, it may lead to conflicts and rivalries. If people imitate each other's desires, they may wind up desiring the very same things; and if they desire the same things, they may easily become rivals, as they reach for the same objects. Girard usually distinguishes ‘imitation’ from ‘mimesis’, The former is usually understood as the positive aspect of reproducing someone else’s behavior, whereas the latter usually implies the negative aspect of rivalry. It should also be mentioned that because the former usually is understood to refer to mimicry, Girard proposes the latter term to refer to the deeper, instinctive response that humans have to each other. a. External Mediation Girard calls ‘mediation’ the process in which a person influences the desires and preferences of another person. Thus, whenever a person’s desire is imitated by someone else, she becomes a ‘mediator’ or ‘model’. Girard points out that this is very evident in publicity and marketing techniques: whenever a product is promoted, some celebrity is used to ‘mediate’ consumers’ desires: in a sense, the celebrity is inviting people to imitate him in his desire of the product. The product is not promoted on the basis of its inherent qualities, but simply because of the fact that some celebrity desires it.