Evolution and Conversion

Dialogues on the Origins of Culture

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Christian Literature, Philosophy
Cover of the book Evolution and Conversion by Dr René Girard, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dr René Girard ISBN: 9781441151841
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: February 14, 2008
Imprint: Continuum Language: English
Author: Dr René Girard
ISBN: 9781441151841
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: February 14, 2008
Imprint: Continuum
Language: English

Presented as a series of conversations, Evolution and Conversion is a thorough discussion of the major tenets of Girard's thought.

René Girard is one of the most brilliant and striking intellectuals of the 20th century. His theory on the imitative nature of desire and on the violent origin of culture has been at the centre of the philosophical and theoretical debate since the publication in 1971 of his seminal book: Violence and the Sacred. His reflection on the relationship between violence and religion is one of the most original and persuasive and, given the urgency of this issue in our contemporary world, demands a reappraisal.

Girard, who has been hailed by Michel Serres as "the Charles Darwin" of human sciences, is in fact one of the few thinkers in the humanities and social sciences that takes into full consideration an evolutionary perspective to explain the emergence of culture and institutions. The authors draw out this aspect of his thought by foregrounding ethological, anthropological and evolutionary theories.

Methodological and epistemological systematization has also been lacking in Girard's previous books, and by questioning him on the issue of evidence and truth, the authors provide a convincing framework for further inquiries. In the last chapters, Girard proposes a provocative re-reading of the Biblical texts, seen as the culmination of an enduring process of historical awareness of the presence and function of collective violence in our world. In fact, Girard's long argument is a historical spiral in which the origin of culture and archaic religion is reunited with the contemporary world by means of a reinterpretation of Christianity and its revelation of the intrinsic violent nature of the human being.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Presented as a series of conversations, Evolution and Conversion is a thorough discussion of the major tenets of Girard's thought.

René Girard is one of the most brilliant and striking intellectuals of the 20th century. His theory on the imitative nature of desire and on the violent origin of culture has been at the centre of the philosophical and theoretical debate since the publication in 1971 of his seminal book: Violence and the Sacred. His reflection on the relationship between violence and religion is one of the most original and persuasive and, given the urgency of this issue in our contemporary world, demands a reappraisal.

Girard, who has been hailed by Michel Serres as "the Charles Darwin" of human sciences, is in fact one of the few thinkers in the humanities and social sciences that takes into full consideration an evolutionary perspective to explain the emergence of culture and institutions. The authors draw out this aspect of his thought by foregrounding ethological, anthropological and evolutionary theories.

Methodological and epistemological systematization has also been lacking in Girard's previous books, and by questioning him on the issue of evidence and truth, the authors provide a convincing framework for further inquiries. In the last chapters, Girard proposes a provocative re-reading of the Biblical texts, seen as the culmination of an enduring process of historical awareness of the presence and function of collective violence in our world. In fact, Girard's long argument is a historical spiral in which the origin of culture and archaic religion is reunited with the contemporary world by means of a reinterpretation of Christianity and its revelation of the intrinsic violent nature of the human being.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Performance and the Medical Body by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book Climate Justice by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book Brief Encounter by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book A Kiss for the Enemy by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The History of Philosophical and Formal Logic by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The Islamic-Byzantine Frontier by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book Unicorn Princesses 8: Feather's Flight by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book Nabokov's Shakespeare by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The Whisky Taster by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book Gone to Timbuctoo by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The Road from the Monument by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The Dialectics of Creation by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book Manzikert 1071 by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The Dead City by Dr René Girard
Cover of the book The Cripple Of Inishmaan by Dr René Girard
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy