The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion

James Alison, Wolfgang Palaver

Springer, Oct 19, 2017 - Religion - 549 pages

The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion draws on the expertise of leading scholars and thinkers to explore the violent origins of culture, the meaning of ritual, and the conjunction of theology and anthropology, as well as secularization, science, and terrorism. Authors assess the contributions of René Girard’s mimetic theory to our understanding of sacrifice, ancient tragedy, and post-modernity, and apply its insights to religious cinema and the global economy. This handbook serves as introduction and guide to a theory of religion and human behavior that has established itself as fertile terrain for scholarly research and intellectual reflection.

Contents

• 1 General Introduction: 1
• Violent Origins: 8
• 2 Introduction: 11
• Current Theories GirardianDarwinian Approaches: 13
• 4 The Emergence of Human Consciousness in a Religious Context: 20
• 5 Freud Moses and Monotheism and the Conversation Between Mimetic Theory and Psychoanalysis: 31
• 6 Kristeva and the Question of Origins: 38
• Hunting Homo Necans Guilt: 45
• 8 Vengeance and the Gift: 53
• 9 Mesoamerican Civilizations and Sacrifice: 61
• 10 Çatalhöyük Archaeology Violence: 68
• From Rites to Writing: 76
• 11 Introduction: 77
• 12 LéviStrauss and Girard on Mythology and Ritual: 85
• Jaspers Bellah and Voegelin: 94
• Moving Out of the Archaic Sacred: 103
• From the Vedas to Buddhism Jainism and the Upanishads: 110
• Sacrifice Philosophy and Religion: 119
• Mimetic Theory and Religion: 127
• Old and New Testaments a New Hermeneutics?: 134
• Raymund Schwager Robert G HamertonKelly and James G Williams: 143
• 20 Oedipus and Greek Tragedy: 151
• 21 Nietzsche Dionysos and the Crucified: 158
• Theological Anthropology: 166
• 22 Introduction: 167
• 23 An Epistemology of Revelation: 173
• How Girard Changes the Debate: 179
• 25 Original Sin Positive Mimesis: 185
• 26 Embodiment and Incarnation: 193
• The Transformation of the Meaning of Sacrifice Through Revelation: 201
• 28 Girard and Augustine: 209
• Dramatic Theology: 217
• 19862015: 225
• 31 James Alisons Theological Appropriation of Girard: 233
• 32 Levinas and the Prophetic Current: 240
• 33 Mysticism Girard and Simone Weil: 249
• Judaism Christianity Islam Hinduism Buddhism: 257
• Secularization and Modernity: 264
• 35 Introduction: 267
• 36 Secularization: 270
• 37 The Barren Sacrifice: 279
• 38 The Economy as the Opium of the People: 286
• The Unravelling Logic of the Salem Witch Hunt: 295
• 40 Mimetic Theory Religion and Literature as Secular Scripture: 303
• 41 The Development of the Self: 310
• 42 Modern Pathologies and the Displacement of the Sacred: 319
• Nietzsche Weber Scheler: 327
• Complementary Engagements with the Crisis of Modernity: 335
• Tocqueville Asad Bonhoeffer Habermas: 343
• Apocalypse PostModernity and the Return of Religion: 351
• 46 Introduction: 352
• 47 The Return of Religion: 357
• 48 Mimetic Theory and the Katēchon: 362
• Which God Will Save Us?: 371
• Ivan Illich and René Girard on Antichrist: 378
• 51 Weak Faith: 387
• 52 Terrorism and Religion: 394
• Hope Against All Hope: 403
• 54 Enlightened Doomsaying: 411
• Alternative Paradigms: 418
• 55 Introduction: 419
• Dawkins Harris Hitchens: 423
• 57 Scientific Evidence for the Foundational Role of Psychological Mimesis: 431
• 58 Cognitive Neuroscience and Religion: 439
• 59 Generative Anthropology: 447
• 60 Critiques of Girards Mimetic Theory: 455
• 61 A Theory of Everything? A Methodological Tale: 462
• 62 Mimetic Theory and Selfcriticism: 471
• Approaching the Contemporary: 478
• 63 Introduction: 481
• 64 Scandal: 484
• 65 Terrorism and the Escalation of Violence: 493
• 66 Religious Conflicts in the Contemporary World: 501
• 67 Modern Confessional Movements: 509
• 68 Mimetic Insights into the Sacred in Film: 517
• 69 Resurgent Religious Themes in Contemporary Film: 524
• 70 Pastoral Outreach and Community Living: 531
• Glossary of Terms: 537
• Index: 541

About the author

James Alison, priest, theologian, and author, is a Fellow of Imitatio. He has been working with Girard’s thought since 1985 and has contributed to the field with a number of books, most recently the adult catechetical course “Jesus the Forgiving Victim.”

Wolfgang Palaver is Professor of Catholic Social Thought at the University of Innsbruck. From 2007 to 2011 he was president of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion. Recent publications: René Girard's Mimetic Theory (2013); The European Wars of Religion (2016).

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion
• Editors: James Alison, Wolfgang Palaver
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Springer, 2017
• ISBN: 1137538252, 9781137538253
• Length: 549 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / General; Philosophy / Religious; Religion / General; Religion / Philosophy