History as crisis : insights from a mimetic philosophy of history

Abstract

A central aspect of René Girard's Mimetic theory is the eruptive interpersonal violence facilitated by humanity's propensity toward imitative desire turned rivalry. At the heart of this process is a crisis; a moment in which the imminent threat of an all-encompassing violence unconsciously leads humanity towards a compromise: apocalyptic communal violence or the scapegoat. Girard, in his final work Battling to the End, wishes for his theory to be applied within the philosophy of history. In this thesis, an attempt is made to trace the history of civilizational collapse and pursuant crises via the works of Oswald Spengler, who offers us a framework within which to apply Girard's theories and, in so doing, analyse the main line of modern philosophical thought regarding the overarching meaning of history, while using mimetic theory as their counterpoint. The aim of this analysis is to identify how mimetic theory can inform us as to the mechanism of cultural and rise and decline to analyse whether Girard provides an alternative to the prevailing philosophical conclusions represented by Spengler's work: fatalism or idealist utopianism. Through an analysis of the concept of crisis, this thesis will show that Girard's, or rather, the Gospel's uncovering of the mimetic mechanism in history and its attending crises has both exacerbated this existential problem while simultaneously providing us with a new historical scenario in which cultural-apocalyptic violence could be avoided.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English