René Girard’s concept of mimetic desire, scapegoat mechanism and biblical demystification

This article provides an overview of René Girard’s concept of mimetic desire, scapegoat mechanism and biblical demystification. It also attempts to explain the basic notions of his anthropology and to contextualize them in relation to the conceptions of philosophers like Freud, Durkheim and Nietzsc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bogumił Strączek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Francis de Sales Scientific Society (TNFS.PL) 2022-12-01
Series:Seminare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://czasopisma.uksw.edu.pl/index.php/s/article/view/11046
Description
Summary:This article provides an overview of René Girard’s concept of mimetic desire, scapegoat mechanism and biblical demystification. It also attempts to explain the basic notions of his anthropology and to contextualize them in relation to the conceptions of philosophers like Freud, Durkheim and Nietzsche. The paper starts with an introduction to the widely discussed problem of mimetic desire. It sees Girard’s mimetic theory as a theory of conflict. Then, it analyzes how violence emerges through mimetic rivalry. From that point, the essay moves to discuss the scapegoat mechanism and the relation between violence and the sacred in archaic societies. Finally, it examines the conception of Judeo-Christian demystification of mimesis and surrogate victim.
ISSN:1232-8766
2450-1328