I See Satan Fall Like Lightning
There have been two major social inventions in history that mitigated the negative consequences of mimetic desire: the scapegoat mechanism and the market economy.
Luke Burgis • Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
“Each person must ask what his relationship is to the scapegoat,” wrote René Girard. “I am not aware of my own, and I am persuaded that the same holds true for my readers. We only have legitimate enmities. And yet the entire universe swarms with scapegoats.”
Luke Burgis • Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
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First describing the triangular structure of desire -- object, model, and subject -- Girard tells how conflicts are resolved and why human society is not marked by total conflict all the time.
René Girard • Insights with Rene Girard
His message has two meanings. Violence is the disease and the cure for the disease. Sacrificial ritual is always violent. And yet, since the real and symbolic violence of sacrifice restores peace in the community, it prevents the escalation of runaway Mimetic violence. In that way, humanity contains violence with violence because sacrifice saves th... See more