René Girard

[djeter]

One of the 20th century giants of this world (still living) is René Girard, a French thinker and devout Roman Catholic who has contributed numerous books and articles to a wide range of disciplines: history, philosophy, literary criticism, critical theory, anthropology, theology, psychology, mythology, sociology, economics and cultural studies. Girard received his Ph.D. in history from Indiana University and has lived and taught for most of his life in America.

What makes him fun is that while he combines a “deconstructionist” and “debunking” analysis of the origins and bases of human culture he uses it to affirm his Catholic faith and Christianity. Most in academia would belong to a secular or atheist bent but Girard is unapologetically Catholic.

I’ve put together a little intro to his work with part of an interview I found interesting. You can find it all here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/02/04/rene-girard/

dj

 

[Betterave]

Fascinating, thanks!

 

[MercyMia]

I enjoyed reading this! It is amazing how many intellectual facets there are in our faith.

 

[djeter]

http://payingattentiontothesky.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/violence-unveiled1.jpg?w=140&h=203

Gil Bailie’s definitive work on René Girard is Violence Unveiled. While many counsel “Read the original!” I have always been one who has preferred to read interpreters and then read the originals. It gives me a sense of knowing the lay of the land or landmarks to observe as I read the original source material. Bailie brings a wealth of anecdote and other observations to Girard’s work which brings it more alive to me.

Joseph Bottum felt the same: “Bailie’s *Violence Unveiled *is the best introduction to the Girardian topics of violence, culture, and sacrifice. It is an easily accessible and beautifully crafted analysis that moves freely from Greek literature to current news stories, from Aztec myths to Captain Cook’s experience in Tahiti, and finds in them all the grounds for a persuasive biblical and anti-violent Christian apologetics. Specialist and nonspecialist alike will find Bailie’s book rewarding; I recommend it highly.”

If you’d like to follow up on the previous then try this book recommendation here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/02/12/gil-bailie-interprets-rene-girard/

dj

 

[RobNY]

There’s a small Rene Girard “Reader” which should be good for most people (it’s all I’ve read).

amazon.com/Girard-Reader-Rene/dp/0824516346

It gives you a good overview by giving providing (translated) articles or excerpts about his mimetic theory, his scapegoating theory, and the connection of the Judeo-Christian tradition to this. Everything is in very bite sized chunks, which makes it very easy to understand Girard’s own theory in his own words.

There are also some articles on things like “Dionysus vs. the Crucified” which offer an interesting look into Nietzsche.

Girard’s theories, are of course, still just theories. They’re nothing ‘hard’ in the way of fundamental scientific or philosophical truths. Nevetheless, I often find that they are helpful in explaining or shedding light on some patterns of human behavior or religion. In my opinion, it is well worth reading for what it is.

I’ll have to look into this book of yours.

-Rob

 

[rwillenborg]

Thanks for posting this!

 

[djeter]

There’s a small Rene Girard “Reader” which should be good for most people (it’s all I’ve read).

amazon.com/Girard-Reader-Rene/dp/0824516346

It gives you a good overview by giving providing (translated) articles or excerpts about his mimetic theory, his scapegoating theory, and the connection of the Judeo-Christian tradition to this. Everything is in very bite sized chunks, which makes it very easy to understand Girard’s own theory in his own words.

There are also some articles on things like “Dionysus vs. the Crucified” which offer an interesting look into Nietzsche.

Girard’s theories, are of course, still just theories. They’re nothing ‘hard’ in the way of fundamental scientific or philosophical truths. Nevetheless, I often find that they are helpful in explaining or shedding light on some patterns of human behavior or religion. In my opinion, it is well worth reading for what it is.

I’ll have to look into this book of yours.

-Rob

How “hard” are philosophical truths from the standpoint of scientific materialism? No atheist is going to embrace any of this.

"Beginning from literary criticism and ending with a general theory of culture, through an explanation of the role of religion in primitive societies and a radical reinterpretation of Christianity, René Girard has completely modified the landscape in the social sciences.

Ethnology, history of religion, philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology and literary criticism are explicitly mobilized in this enterprise. Theology, economics and political sciences, history and sociology — in short, all the social sciences, and those that used to be called moral sciences — are influenced by it."

Merely by breadth alone one would have to acknowledge that his ability to bring out Gospel truth into these academic fields is a marvelous accomplishment. If you like thinking about the Gospel and what it means, Girard and his interpreters like Gil Bailie are great reads.

That’s a good book you recommended and I used parts of it in one of my posts. There’s more Gospel exegesis using Girard’s theories in the Bailie book though. I’m going to give more examples of that in a later post.

dj

 

[RobNY]

How “hard” are philosophical truths from the standpoint of scientific materialism? No atheist is going to embrace any of this.

It certainly lacks the universality and certainty of a datum verifiable by scientific theory, or perhaps a fundamental ‘metaphysical’ law like Leibniz’s law (which any person will affirm, atheist or not, who understands it). I don’t mean to take Rene Girard down by noting this, I’m just according it the proper weight which belongs to it.

It’s a rather beautiful theory he has, but the chief weakness of any theory is that it lays interpretation down on top of observations, which by nature may bear alternate theories (even if they seem less plausible). That’s simply to mark the weakness of any theory, inasmuch as it is a theory of such a sort. But that’s no reason to reject theories, just simply the nature of such things.

That’s a good book you recommended and I used parts of it in one of my posts. There’s more Gospel exegesis using Girard’s theories in the Bailie book though. I’m going to give more examples of that in a later post.

dj

Thanks. I find the exegesis to be interesting.

One of my favorite uses is an anti-scapegoating theme against those who think that God the Father scapegoats the Son (common in Calvinistic soteriology). The simple fact is that the Son is a scapegoat, if we must say it, but He is our scapegoat, not the Father’s.

-Rob

 

[Markedjar]

Rene Girard’s works are a must read! Unless there’s one I don’t know about, I’ve read all his works now. I would definitely start out with violence and the sacred. I think this book best outlines the basices of mimetic desire and how it effects modern culture. After that I would read The Scapegoat, which goes into more details about exactly how Jesus revealed the nature of sin and human violence. Girard’s works have greatly influenced my thoughts and theology as a Protestant CHristian. In particular, I now how have a much higher view of the eucharist. I wrote a little summary of Girard’s critique on Freud here: What Freud Got Wrong. Girard’s works, in my opinion, are some of the most important works for the 21st century Church.