The sacrificial violence as the foundation of order through the theory of mimetics by René Girard

Abstract

The following paper it will be addressed the principal hypothesis about the theory of mimetics created by the French historian René Girard. It is stressed that violence being embedded in the wishes corresponds to a human dimension that is always looking for distinctiveness. Thus, it can be seen as a basis of social order. In order to clarify this fact, it is analyzed the role of the sacrificial mechanism as one of the underlying principles of the human existence and the integration to their communities. Girard’s theory represents an alternative interpretation facing the contractual theories proposed by the field of political philosophy. Lastly, the paper discusses about the relevance of the sacrificial practices in the contemporary world, taking as an example the terrorism-counterterrorism confrontation starting from the mimetics approach.