Description
René Girard is one of the most divisive and striking intellectuals of the 20th century. Over the past forty years, his work has continued to exert an influence across literary theory, philosophy and the social sciences. Echoing the format of his early works,
Evolution and Conversion brings Girard into dialogue with two sympathetic interviewers and allows him to speak candidly about the major tenets of his life and thought.
Hailed by Michel Serres as “the Charles Darwin” of human sciences, Girard is in fact one of the few thinkers who has given full consideration to an evolutionary perspective to explain the emergence of culture and institutions. Evolution and Conversion draws out not only this aspect of his thought but also emphasises the centrality of religion to his work. Girard’s reflection on the relationship between violence and religion is both original and persuasive and, given the urgency of this issue in our contemporary world, in need of a reappraisal.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. The Life of the Mind
Chapter 2. “A theory by which to work”: the Mimetic Mechanism
Chapter 3: The Symbolic Species
Chapter 4. Critique and Dialogue: From Frazer to Levi-Strauss
Chapter 5: Method, Evidence and Truth
Chapter 6: The Scandal of Christianity
Chapter 7: Modernity, Postmodernity and the End of History
Author(s)
René Girard, René Girard is the Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French Language, Literature, and Civilization at Stanford University.
Joao Cezar de Castro Rocha,
João Cezar de Castro Rocha is Professor of Comparative Transatlantic Studies at the University of Manchester and Humboldt Research Fellow, Germany.
Michael Kirwan,
Dr Michael Kirwan SJ is Head of Theology at Heythrop College in the University of London, UK.
Pierpaolo Antonello,
Pierpaolo Antonello, Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John's College, is currently a member of COV&R, and has worked for many years on the relationship between literature, philosophy and science.
Reviews
"For those who want a lively, general introduction to the thought of this seminal religious thinker [Rene Girard], Evolution and Conversion is a book not to be missed." - Theology
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'Girard is now well known for his multidisciplinary writings on religion and violence ... This book develops and reassesses ideas set out thirty years ago.' Theological Book Review, Volume 20, No 2, 2008
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Reviewed by Michael McGhee, Theological Book Review Vol.19 No.1 2007
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