Mimetic desire explained by René Girard

"As simple as it sounds it explains everything."



In this interview French historian and philosopher René Girard explains the imitative nature of desire and its consequences, and how all conflict is based on mimetic rivalry and is resolved by the scapegoat or sacrificial mechanism. He also explains how the scapegoat theme in mythology is different from Christianity.

Mimetic or (the unconscious) imitative desire really does seem to explain our conflicted human nature. The mimetic theory fits in perfectly with the Christian understanding of the human condition, but it is not at all limited to the Christian scenario and should be interesting to everyone.

Introduction to the mimetic theory (difficult to navigate website...):

http://www.cottet.org/girard/desir1.en.htm

Interview with interesting comments on the scapegoat mechanism and the origin of language:

http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/AP0201/interv.htm