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French theorist of the social sciences René Girard’s intellectual legacy combines remarkable explanatory power with sustained controversy. His theory of mimetic desire has influenced literary studies, anthropology, philosophy, and theology, yet it has also attracted significant criticism. Within Christian theology, Girard has been received both as an insightful interpreter of the biblical narrative and as …
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Police and anti-immigration protestors clash at Cronulla, Sydney, in December 2005 The French philosopher René Girard (1923–2015) is perhaps best known for his work on the relationship between desire, violence, and religion in modern thought. Trained as a literary critic yet ranging widely across anthropology and theology, he developed a unified vision of human behaviour that …
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