René Girard’s Mimetic Theory by Wolfgang Palaver [Actionable Summary]

The Book In Three Or More Sentences:

Unsurprisingly, as stated in the title, the book is a detailed examination of the most famous thesis by René Girard – the mimetic theory. The desire of the French philosopher is to explain human existence and also tell us why human relations are so prone to conflict and violence. The theory is based on some of the most influential novels in modern literature (The Brothers Karamazov, Madame Bovary, Don Quixote, and more). Therefore, in this book, Wolfgang Palaver examines and comments on the sources used by Rene.

The Core Idea:

We, humans, form our desires based on the desires of the surrounding people. The people we follow and hang out with transmit their desires to us, and they become ours. This realization not only shatters our precious perception of autonomy and uniqueness, but also explains why feelings like jealousy dominate our minds – when we desire the same things as others, we become rivals as we all long for the same objects.

6 Key Lessons from René Girard’s Mimetic Theory:

Lesson #1: We’re Deeply Influenced By The Desires of The People Around

The core idea of the mimetic theory is captured in the following sentence: “Humans do not themselves know what to desire; as a result, they imitate the desires of others.”

Just like that, the concept of our uniqueness vanishes. Our perception of autonomy and independence is imaginary. We are, our ambitions, goals, and desires, according to Rene, just a reflection of the yearnings of the people around us.

Why is that?

Simple. We learn by imitating others. When we’re born, in order to cope with the obstacles that come our way, we copy the behavior of the people closest to us. Since we yet don’t know what is true and what actually works, it’s natural to consider the actions of others as right.

This is actually our main advantage over animals – our ability to adapt and “steal” tactics and strategies from the people forming our social circle. This instinct is essential for our survival.

And while there are obvious benefits of mimicking the actions of others, there are some really nasty side effects that emerge:

• Envy: The feeling of envy emerges when others have things we’re unable to acquire.
• Rivalry: Essentially, we all desire the same things. We imitate each other all the time after all. Eventually, we start to fight over these same objects.
• Violence: Violence arises when two people direct their desires towards something specific – since they can’t both possess it, one of them might use force over the other.

The mimetic theory offers answers to all of these destructive patterns that are deeply rooted in our nature.

“‘Envy,’ as the term is understood in everyday usage, is due to a feeling of impotence which we experience when another person owns a good we covet. . . . If we are merely displeased that another person owns a good, this can be an incentive for acquiring it through work, purchase, violence, or robbery. Envy occurs when we fail in doing so and feel powerless.” Max Scheler