For René Girard: Essays in Friendship and in Truth (Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture Series) [Folded Map] [Paperback]

Sandor Goodhart (Editor), Jorgen Jorgensen (Editor), Tom Ryba (Editor), James Williams (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 2009

In his explorations of the relations between the sacred and violence, René Girard has hit upon the origin of culture — the way culture began, the way it continues to organize itself. The way communities of human beings structure themselves in a manner that is different from that of other species on the planet.
     Like Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Émile Durkheim, Martin Buber, or others who have changed the way we think in the humanities or in the human sciences, Girard has put forth a set of ideas that have altered our perceptions of the world in which we function. We will never be able to think the same way again about mimetic desire, about the scapegoat mechanism, and about the role of Jewish and Christian scripture in explaining sacrifice, violence, and the crises from which our culture has been born.
     The contributions fall into roughly four areas of interpretive work: religion and religious study; literary study; the philosophy of social science; and psychological studies.
     The essays presented here are offered as "essays" in the older French sense of attempts (essayer) or trials of ideas, as indeed Girard has tried out ideas with us. With a conscious echo of Montaigne, then, this hommage volume is titled Essays in Friendship and in Truth.
 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sandor Goodhart is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Classics at Purdue University.

Jorgen Jorgensen edited a collection of essays on Girard titled Syndens sold.

Tom Ryba is Notre Dame Theologian-in-Residence at the Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue University.

James Williams is the author of The Bible, Violence, and the Sacred and editor of The Girard Reader.

Product Details

• Paperback: 289 pages
• Publisher: Michigan State University Press (June 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870138626
• ISBN-13: 978-0870138621
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,499,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving tribute to one of the most important thinkers of our day, October 2, 2009

By 

Adam Ericksen (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For René Girard: Essays in Friendship and in Truth (Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture Series) (Paperback)

This book was a great idea. A bunch of people writing about one of the most important thinkers of our time. Many essays in this volume review mimetic theory in a friendly, non-academic style. That makes it a great introduction to the contributors, mimetic theory, and Girard. Even more compelling, for me, were some of the personal reflections on how this theory is more than just an intellectual exercise in anthropology, but how it can help guide one on an adventure in personal transformation and conversion. Excellent book.

Contributors include:

Michel Serres

Eric Gans

Andrew McKenna

Cesareo Bandera

Jean-Michel Oughourlian

Jean-Piere Dupuy

Paul Dumouchel

Sandor Goodhart

Robert Daly

William Johnsen

Jozef Niewiadomski

Jacques-Jude Lepine

Sonja Pos

Eugene Webb

James Williams

Robert Hammerton-Kelly

Gil Bailie

Wolfgang Palaver

Richard Golsan

Charles Mabee

Anthony Bartlett

Chris Allen Carter

Martha Reineke

Giuseppe Fornari

Michael Hardin

Tyler Graham

For more on mimetic theory, check out ravenfoundation(dot)org.