Rene Girard 1923 – 2015
Rene Girard (1923 – 2015) was a French philosopher of the Contemporary era, associated with Continental Philosophy and Christian Philosophy.
Rene Girard was a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science best known for his theory of mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism. From his early literary readings in Deceit, Desire, and the Novel he argued that desire is always imitative, that we want what others want, and that this triangular structure produces rivalry and conflict. Violence and the Sacred and Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World extended the analysis to ritual and myth, claiming that archaic societies channel mimetic violence onto a single victim, while I See Satan Fall Like Lightning read the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as the gradual exposure and undoing of that mechanism.
Key facts
- Nationality
- French
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Continental Philosophy, Christian Philosophy
Selected quotes
-
Attributed to Rene Girard:
“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others to make up his mind.”
-
Attributed to Rene Girard:
“Violence is the heart and secret soul of the sacred.”
-
Attributed to Rene Girard:
“Two desires converging on the same object are bound to clash.”
-
Attributed to Rene Girard:
“Mimetic desire enables us to escape the animal realm; it is responsible for the best and the worst in us.”
-
Attributed to Rene Girard:
“The scapegoat mechanism becomes intelligible the moment it ceases to function.”
Frequently asked about Rene Girard
- When did Rene Girard live?
- Rene Girard was born in 1923 and died in 2015.
- Where was Rene Girard from?
- Rene Girard was a French philosopher of the Contemporary era.
- What philosophical movements is Rene Girard associated with?
- Rene Girard was associated with Continental Philosophy and Christian Philosophy.
- What was Rene Girard known for?
- Rene Girard was a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science best known for his theory of mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism.
- How many quotes are attributed to Rene Girard?
- There are 13 attributed quotations from Rene Girard in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.