EVOLUTION AND CONVERSION dialogues on the origins of culture;dialogues on the origins of culture

"Evolution and Conversion explores the main tenets of Rene Girard's thought in a series of dialogues. Here, Girard reflects on the evolution of his thought and offers striking new insights on topics such as violence, religion, desire and literature. His long argument is a historical one in which the origin of culture and religion is reunited in the contemporary world by means of a reinterpretation of Christianity and an understanding of the intrinsically violent nature of human beings. He also offers provocative re-readings of biblical and literary texts and responds to statements by Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins. Including an introduction by the authors, this is a revealing text by one of the most original thinkers of our time."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Foreword Notes Introduction Stanford, May 1995 Rethinking mimesis Evolution and victimization Clues and figurae. Girard’s ‘evidential paradigm’ Epistemology and conversion Christianity and postmodernity Notes Chapter 1 The Life of the Mind 1 ‘One long argument from the beginning...’ 2 ‘Ce moment capital dans ma vie’ 3 Deceit, Desire and the Novel (Mensonges romantiques) 4 The hidden things 5 ‘... To the end’ Notes Chapter 2 ‘A Theory by Which to Work’: The Mimetic Mechanism 1 The mimetic mechanism at work 2 Mimetic rivalry 3 Scapegoating and social order 4 Cultural mimesis and the role of the object 5 Méconnaissance Notes Chapter 3 The Symbolic Species 1 Missing links 2 Ethology and the victimary mechanism 3 The evolution of the mind 4 Social intelligence 5 Animal domestication and the origins of agriculture 6 ‘The fearful symmetry’ Notes Chapter 4 Dialogues and Criticism: From Frazer to Lévi-Strauss Notes Chapter 5 Method, Evidence and Truth 1 The question of evidence in myths and rituals 2 Science, anthropology and understanding 3 Literature as evidence 4 Conjectural thinking and the clues of history 5 Misrecognition and truth Notes Chapter 6 The Scandal of Christianity 1 The anthropology of the Bible 2 Myth and monotheism 3 Figurae 4 Revelation and Eastern religions 5 The judgement of Solomon and the non-sacrificial space 6 History and sacrificial awareness 7 Celui par qui le scandale arrive Notes Chapter 7 Modernity, Postmodernity and Beyond 1 The apocalyptic feeling 2 Modernity and its discontent 3 The market as the sacred 4 The weak subject 5 The kenosis of God Notes Chronology of Girard's Life List of Girard's Publications Index Evolution and Conversion explores the main tenets of René Girard's thought in a series of dialogues. Here, Girard reflects on the evolution of his thought and offers striking new insights on topics such as violence, religion, desire and literature. His long argument is a historical one in which the origin of culture and religion is reunited in the contemporary world by means of a reinterpretation of Christianity and an understanding of the intrinsically violent nature of human beings. He also offers provocative re-readings of Biblical and literary texts and responds to statements by Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins. Including an introduction by the authors, this is a revealing text by one of the most original thinkers of our time. "Explores the main tenets of René Girard's thought in a series of dialogues. Here, Girard reflects on the evolution of his thought and offers striking new insights on topics such as violence, religion, desire and literature. His long argument is a historical one in which the origin of culture and religion is reunited in the contemporary world by means of a reinterpretation of Christianity and an understanding of the intrinsically violent nature of human beings. He also offers provocative re-readings of Biblical and literary texts and responds to statements by Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins."--Provided by publisher