23/2 – Fall 2018

Home »
Issues »

23/2 – Fall 2018
Mimetic Wisdom: René Girard and the Task of Christian Philosophy

We are happy to present a special (thematic) issue dedicated to René Girard’s Mimetic Theory and its place in the Christian philosophical tradition. The issue includes the inquires of many researchers, specialised in Girard's intellectual legacy. Eric Gans, by focusing on the fundamental issue of “deferral violence”, brings out the specific differences between Girard’s and his own vision of the origins of language and religion, as well as the Christian understanding of communion. Anthony W. Bartlett offers a Girardian concept of generative semiotics that sees the birth of meaning and symbolic thought as a direct consequence of a primitive catastrophe—the collective murder of the emissary victim. Bernard Perret by referring to a philosophy of the event provides an epistemological framework to unify the theological and anthropological meanings of Girardian notions of revelation. John Ranieri argues that Girard’s anthropological approach might be useful in understanding the relationship between nature and grace. From the perspective of Girard’s Mimetic Theory and his idea of evangelical revelation Stefano Tomelleri reconsiders concept of Resentment. By referring to the Girardian notion of mimesis and Sumner’s insights into folkway traditions Charles Mabee put forward a thesis that Jesus in his life and teaching recognized and deconstructed the power of customary thinking that were violent and exclusionary in nature. With the use of Bernard Stiegler “tool-box,” Emanuele Antonelli examines the methodological and epistemological conditions of possibility of Girardian concept of Christian wisdom, defined as the capacity to pay attention. In a wider philosophical and theological context Maria Korusiewicz raises a question whether it is justified to interpret Girard’s work in terms of tragic vision. Thomas Ryba proposes a revision of Girard’s interpretation of Satan, along with the Catholic theology.

The issue also includes three book reviews: Józef Bremer examines Faith and Reason: Philosophers Explain Their Turn to Catholicism (Besong, and Fuqua, eds.), Andrzej Wierciński reviews Paul Ricœur’s Concept of Subjectivity and the Postmodern Claim of the Death of the Subject (Małgorzata Hołda) and Jakub Pruś looks at Piotr Warzoszczak's book on Modal Fictionalism [Fikcjonalizm Modalny].