René Girard, Mimesis, and Conflict (with Cynthia Haven) 6/24/24 

If you're always imitating others or aspiring to be something else,
what’s left of the “authentic” you? According to the French philosopher
Rene Girard, not much: Nothing can be truly authentic, he
argued--everything comes from somewhere else. This is just one of the
many original and counterintuitive claims put forth in Girard’s sweeping
approach to human history. He argues it is sameness, not our difference
that leads to conflict, and he sees religion as a way to contain the
chaos as opposed to its first cause. Listen as Stanford University
scholar Cynthia Haven speaks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about Girard’s
theories of desire and violence. The conversation also includes a
discussion of the power of forgiveness to put a stop to conflict’s
rinse-and-repeat.
Watch the full episode here on June 25th, or listen then wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe to EconTalk on RU-vid: www.econtalk.o...
Subscribe to the audio episodes:
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple...
Stitcher: www.stitcher.c...
Spotify: open.spotify.c...
and wherever you listen to podcasts.