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Summary: Girard may just be the most profound thinker in 2500 years
Review: I don't think there is any doubt that Rene Girard is the most profoud thinker in the past 2500 years. I go back that far to include his transcendence of both Plato and Aristotle. Translate his insight into the human condition into the waning years of the 20th century--the most murderous century in human history--and we may yet survive the 21st century with some measure of humanity. Thank God we have a thinker who empathizes the human condition and has the ability to articulate it. Right now, he is as close to the "second coming"`as we have.As one of Shakespeare's characters put it: "I thank God for you, sir!"
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Summary: Amazing . . . simply Amazing Stuff
Review: In the academic landscape of victimization theories, deconstruction and post-modernism, here arises a singular voice that cuts to an all encompassing generative theory of civilization. It is a theory that explains why we buy Nike, why we go to war, and how we achieve peace. It would be better known in academia except this poor soul has the unfortunate timing of discovering a theory that objectively validates the truth of Catholicism, when Christianity (and even worse Catholicism) is out of vogue. His theories have been described as "among the most profound intellectual discoveries of our time" and "a comprehensive vision of the psychological, sociological, political, and religious processes of sin and redemption" If you are a thinker interested in social critique and a theory that has the power to restore Western Civilization - buy this book.
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Summary: Comprehensive introduction to Girard's work
Review: One of the most interesting aspects of this good general introduction to the brilliant work of Rene Girard is the interview with editor James G. Williams, which touches on Girard's biography and his conversion to Catholicism. The other texts included here span the entirety of his long career as literary critic, groundbreaking anthropologist, and Biblical exegete. The texts address all facets of mimetic theory, from triangular desire to scapegoating, sacrifice, Satan, and the paradoxical place of Nietzsche in the history of mimetic anthropology.
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Summary: Comprehensive introduction to Girard's work
Review: This is a remarkably complete introduction to Rene Girard's ideas. His key theory has the clarity and simplicity of a mathematical proof--desire is not an innate drive but a behavior we learn through imitation (mimesis). When we mimic our model's desire for the same object, violence breaks out. Through ritual scapegoating, human communities manage to divert this violence by directing it at a random victim (thus hiding its real source in mimetic rivalry). According to Girard, this mechanism is at work across all times and cultures, and shapes the plot of nearly every major novel. For those with a suspicion of grand unifying theories, his idea raises many questions. Even more controversial is his belief that Christianity brings an end to myth by exposing the scapegoat's innocence. Christ doesn't die as a sacrifice to God for human sin; instead, the crucifixion reveals the fiction at the root of all sacrifice--the victim's culpability. This helps to humanize one of Christianity's more troubling doctrines, but it also asks us to believe that the authors of the New Testament understood the workings of mimetic desire 2000 years before Girard articulated the theory. Read the book and come to your own conclusions. Whatever you decide, after reading Girard you'll look at myth and religion with new eyes.
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Summary: The Key to All Mythologies
Review: This is a remarkably complete introduction to Rene Girard's ideas. His key theory has the clarity and simplicity of a mathematical proof--desire is not an innate drive but a behavior we learn through imitation (mimesis). When we mimic our model's desire for the same object, violence breaks out. Through ritual scapegoating, human communities manage to divert this violence by directing it at a random victim (thus hiding its real source in mimetic rivalry). According to Girard, this mechanism is at work across all times and cultures, and shapes the plot of nearly every major novel. For those with a suspicion of grand unifying theories, his idea raises many questions. Even more controversial is his belief that Christianity brings an end to myth by exposing the scapegoat's innocence. Christ doesn't die as a sacrifice to God for human sin; instead, the crucifixion reveals the fiction at the root of all sacrifice--the victim's culpability. This helps to humanize one of Christianity's more troubling doctrines, but it also asks us to believe that the authors of the New Testament understood the workings of mimetic desire 2000 years before Girard articulated the theory. Read the book and come to your own conclusions. Whatever you decide, after reading Girard you'll look at myth and religion with new eyes.
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Summary: A Strong Introduction to a Visionary Thinker
Review: This is one book that takes time to fully digest. I first encountered Girard in 1998, and his work becomes more significant for me with each passing year. The basic ideas are pretty easy to grasp, but they have a nasty habit of reorienting any context you place them in. His scapegoat theory has something urgent to say to many disciplines: literature, religion, philosophy, psychology, and ultimately anthropology--Girard engages them all. His analysis of the Judeo-Christian scriptures is definitely the most illuminating that I have read, and there is evidence that his influence is spreading. If you are looking for a thoughtful book that takes the Bible seriously without the tired liberal/conservative food-fight, this one won't disappoint.
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