from Hacker News

René Girard has died

by lindbergh on 11/5/15, 1:02 AM with 65 comments

• by keane on 11/5/15, 7:33 AM

  Peter Thiel was greatly influenced by Girard at Stanford [1] and he worked to create the nonprofit that supports the proliferation and application of Girard's theories, Imitatio [2]. You can get an idea of some of Girard's thought and of related works that engage with it at the free collection of writings maintained by Paul Nuechterlein [3].

  [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-on-rene-girards-i...

  [2] http://www.imitatio.org/

  [3] http://www.girardianlectionary.net/

• by ArkyBeagle on 11/5/15, 6:48 AM

  One of the most interesting writers I've read. His theories of acquisitive mimesis and scapegoating are towering ideas.

  I have no idea how they could be made falsifiable but it would be interesting if they could. Even if they are not falsifiable, as a theory of literature - or just storytelling - they're still quite powerful.

• by lindbergh on 11/5/15, 1:06 AM

  His book Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World had a big effect on me and was my first contact with anthropology.

  I really enjoyed how Girard theorized what made us human in the first place (namely, rituals).

• by wyclif on 11/5/15, 8:16 AM

  Girard was an important scholar of mimetic rivalry, sacrifice, and violence in the ancient world. For a great place to start, I recommend this book:

  http://www.amazon.com/See-Satan-Fall-Like-Lightning/dp/15707...

• by thatfrenchguy on 11/5/15, 9:02 AM

  "René would never have experienced such a career in France," said Benoît Chantre, president of Paris' Association Recherches Mimétiques, one of the organizations that have formed around Girard's work. "Such a free work could indeed only appear in America ".

  Yeah, who really believes that ?

• by charlysisto on 11/5/15, 12:56 PM

  I'd like to point out that he also heavily influenced Jean Pierre Dupuy (also professor at Standford) who wrote a few brilliant books. Among them : "l'Avenir de l'économie". Don't know if it's translated in english but for my fellow french hackers I highly recommend it

• by kriro on 11/5/15, 9:24 AM

  For me he is the champion of "people mimic stuff and people". Since I agree that it is human nature to do so he's also part of my foundation of favoring FLOSS software and being opposed to software patents (or limits on the ability to mimic things in general).