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Sacrifice
In Sacrifice , René Girard interrogates the Brahmanas of Vedic India, exploring coincidences with mimetic theory that are too numerous and striking to be accidental. Even that which appears to be dissimilar fails to contradict mimetic theory, but instead corresponds to the minimum of illusion without which sacrifice becomes impossible.
The Bible reveals collective violence, similar to that which generates sacrifice everywhere, but instead of making victims guilty, the Bible and the Gospels reveal the persecutors of a single victim. Instead of elaborating myths, they tell the truth absolutely contrary to the archaic sense. Once exposed, the single victim mechanism can no longer function as the model for would-be sacrificers.
Recognizing that the Vedic tradition also converges on a revelation that discredits sacrifice, mimetic theory locates within sacrifice itself a paradoxical power of quiet reflection that leads, in the long run, to the eclipse of this institution which is violent but nevertheless fundamental to the development of human culture. Far from unduly privileging the Western tradition and awarding it a monopoly on the knowledge and repudiation of blood sacrifice, mimetic analysis recognizes comparable, but never truly identical, traits in the Vedic tradition.
The Bible reveals collective violence, similar to that which generates sacrifice everywhere, but instead of making victims guilty, the Bible and the Gospels reveal the persecutors of a single victim. Instead of elaborating myths, they tell the truth absolutely contrary to the archaic sense. Once exposed, the single victim mechanism can no longer function as the model for would-be sacrificers.
Recognizing that the Vedic tradition also converges on a revelation that discredits sacrifice, mimetic theory locates within sacrifice itself a paradoxical power of quiet reflection that leads, in the long run, to the eclipse of this institution which is violent but nevertheless fundamental to the development of human culture. Far from unduly privileging the Western tradition and awarding it a monopoly on the knowledge and repudiation of blood sacrifice, mimetic analysis recognizes comparable, but never truly identical, traits in the Vedic tradition.
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
René Girard
123 books861 followersRené Girard was a French-born American historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science whose work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy.
He was born in the southern French city of Avignon on Christmas day in 1923. Between 1943 and 1947, he studied in Paris at the École des Chartres, an institution for the training of archivists and historians, where he specialized in medieval history. In 1947 he went to Indiana University on a year’s fellowship and eventually made almost his entire career in the United States. He completed a PhD in history at Indiana University in 1950 but also began to teach literature, the field in which he would first make his reputation. He taught at Duke University and at Bryn Mawr before becoming a professor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. In 1971 he went to the State University of New York at Buffalo for five years, returned to Johns Hopkins, and then finished his academic career at Stanford University where he taught between 1981 and his retirement in 1995.
Girard is the author of nearly thirty books, with his writings spanning many academic domains. Although the reception of his work is different in each of these areas, there is a growing body of secondary literature on his work and his influence on disciplines such as literary criticism, critical theory, anthropology, theology, psychology, mythology, sociology, economics, cultural studies, and philosophy.Girard’s fundamental ideas, which he has developed throughout his career and provide the foundation for his thinking, are that desire is mimetic (all of our desires are borrowed from other people), that all conflict originates in mimetic desire (mimetic rivalry), that the scapegoat mechanism is the origin of sacrifice and the foundation of human culture, and religion was necessary in human evolution to control the violence that can come from mimetic rivalry, and that the Bible reveals these ideas and denounces the scapegoat mechanism.
In 1990, friends and colleagues of Girard’s established the Colloquium on Violence and Religion to further research and discussion about the themes of Girard’s work. The Colloquium meets annually either in Europe or the United States.
René Girard died on November 4, 2015, at the age of 91 in Stanford.
He was born in the southern French city of Avignon on Christmas day in 1923. Between 1943 and 1947, he studied in Paris at the École des Chartres, an institution for the training of archivists and historians, where he specialized in medieval history. In 1947 he went to Indiana University on a year’s fellowship and eventually made almost his entire career in the United States. He completed a PhD in history at Indiana University in 1950 but also began to teach literature, the field in which he would first make his reputation. He taught at Duke University and at Bryn Mawr before becoming a professor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. In 1971 he went to the State University of New York at Buffalo for five years, returned to Johns Hopkins, and then finished his academic career at Stanford University where he taught between 1981 and his retirement in 1995.
Girard is the author of nearly thirty books, with his writings spanning many academic domains. Although the reception of his work is different in each of these areas, there is a growing body of secondary literature on his work and his influence on disciplines such as literary criticism, critical theory, anthropology, theology, psychology, mythology, sociology, economics, cultural studies, and philosophy.Girard’s fundamental ideas, which he has developed throughout his career and provide the foundation for his thinking, are that desire is mimetic (all of our desires are borrowed from other people), that all conflict originates in mimetic desire (mimetic rivalry), that the scapegoat mechanism is the origin of sacrifice and the foundation of human culture, and religion was necessary in human evolution to control the violence that can come from mimetic rivalry, and that the Bible reveals these ideas and denounces the scapegoat mechanism.
In 1990, friends and colleagues of Girard’s established the Colloquium on Violence and Religion to further research and discussion about the themes of Girard’s work. The Colloquium meets annually either in Europe or the United States.
René Girard died on November 4, 2015, at the age of 91 in Stanford.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 19, 2021
Still hard to put into words for me how mimetic theory and sacrifice relate to each other, there is some hand-waving going on
Anyway, this is way easier to understand than "Things hidden since the foundation of the world"
Anyway, this is way easier to understand than "Things hidden since the foundation of the world"
December 26, 2024
Girard can miss me with all his religious refactoring. But it’s hard to argue the core point. We’ve just seen the murder of a healthcare CEO basically as a perfect example of his scapegoat theory. People alternately celebrate and demonize the act as if one person were representative of a much larger issue.
May 5, 2025
In the foundation of the world there was a murder that has been hidden. And there has only ever been one reason to defend the weak and the victim since then.
Directo a los libros de cabecera.
Directo a los libros de cabecera.
April 10, 2013
A long awaited analysis, unfortunately very brief. I enjoyed how Girard sees, within an immensely sacrificial body of texts, an element of non-violent inspiration. From a Christian point of view, it illustrates how the spirit goes everywhere, within, as well as outside the cultural limits of Christianity.
December 19, 2012
Girard's examination of Vedic mythology adds more depth to his theory of myth & sacred violence. For my introductory essay on Girards's thought, see "Violence and the Kingdom of God" at http://bit.ly/SwYVuH
November 10, 2017
WTF did I just read? I can’t decide if this is too obvious to bother talking about or the most mind bending anthropological thesis since Julian Jaynes. This book causes Gestalt-shift whiplash.
March 22, 2023
«Es así cómo debe comenzar la sociedad específicamente humana, fundada sobre los sacrificios y las instituciones que proceden de los mismos»
May 2, 2016
Not a good or easy entrypoint to Girard. I'll look for another door.
January 6, 2020
Girard argues that the act of scapegoating occurs because groups are susceptible to mimetic clashes. At a tipping point the mimetic conflict between two groups will result in the outbreak of violence. After a period of rest, mimetic conflict will reappear within a society as the need for sacrifice to assuage an ailment within the group emerges. The within part is important because this engenders one sect of a group to escalate the mimetic conflict on another subset of the group, creating a positive feedback loop. The ability to scapegoat that segment becomes a clear path and mimetic violence is unleashed upon that scapegoated group.
Girard uses the Vedas to examine the construction of religious faith as a impetus of mimetic scapegoating. His argument is that in Brahman tradition divinity is from without. Ever present. The individual is merely a segment. This alignment can drive mimetic desire to de-incentivize distributive cooperation, as each person is void of entering into a representative converse with Brahman. The sacrificial offering can thus be understood as one that does not seek to usurp mimetic conflict (sin), but maintain the blessing of the Gods so as to not impose their wrath. This line of thinking exposes the mimetic nature of the varnas as incentivized through a divisive mimesis.
He contrast the nature of scapegoating from a Christian perspective by positioning the sacrifice of Jesus as the exposing of the phenomenon of scapegoating. Jesus, in Christianity, is to be the last scapegoat. The only sacrifice to be made unto Christ is God itself. Though the interpretation of Christ as an embodied God is up for debate.
I am skeptical of mimetic theory in the face of innate altruism. Like i do not believe we reach a state that avoids mimetic conflict honestly through Christianity alone. To use a friends words 'humanism probably gets us to a better equilibrium than religion'. However, the idea remains pervasive because after Christianity found common grounding among historical enemies, those enemies began colonizing the entire world. Mimetic conflict still seems unavoidable to me even in Christian societies; think American slave institution, French Revolution, Bolshevik revolution, immigration concerns today, South African transition governance, etc. And to quote my friend again ' secular backlash to Christianity motivated the freedom seen in America in it's founding '.
A mimetic theory of scapegoating is powerful by exemplifying a disarming feature inherent in one the most popular religions of our planet, and as an agnostic/atheist, remains provocative in challenging me to ask myself what group can I be a part of at scale in which the avoidance of mimetic conflict is default.
Girard uses the Vedas to examine the construction of religious faith as a impetus of mimetic scapegoating. His argument is that in Brahman tradition divinity is from without. Ever present. The individual is merely a segment. This alignment can drive mimetic desire to de-incentivize distributive cooperation, as each person is void of entering into a representative converse with Brahman. The sacrificial offering can thus be understood as one that does not seek to usurp mimetic conflict (sin), but maintain the blessing of the Gods so as to not impose their wrath. This line of thinking exposes the mimetic nature of the varnas as incentivized through a divisive mimesis.
He contrast the nature of scapegoating from a Christian perspective by positioning the sacrifice of Jesus as the exposing of the phenomenon of scapegoating. Jesus, in Christianity, is to be the last scapegoat. The only sacrifice to be made unto Christ is God itself. Though the interpretation of Christ as an embodied God is up for debate.
I am skeptical of mimetic theory in the face of innate altruism. Like i do not believe we reach a state that avoids mimetic conflict honestly through Christianity alone. To use a friends words 'humanism probably gets us to a better equilibrium than religion'. However, the idea remains pervasive because after Christianity found common grounding among historical enemies, those enemies began colonizing the entire world. Mimetic conflict still seems unavoidable to me even in Christian societies; think American slave institution, French Revolution, Bolshevik revolution, immigration concerns today, South African transition governance, etc. And to quote my friend again ' secular backlash to Christianity motivated the freedom seen in America in it's founding '.
A mimetic theory of scapegoating is powerful by exemplifying a disarming feature inherent in one the most popular religions of our planet, and as an agnostic/atheist, remains provocative in challenging me to ask myself what group can I be a part of at scale in which the avoidance of mimetic conflict is default.
May 24, 2020
This was my first exposure to a deeper dive into what "mimetic theory" is.
As a Bitcoiner, I've often heard people describe the tribalism you see in cryptocurrencies as mimetic theory, but I'm not so sure that's an accurate statement after reading this book.
Sacrifice covers the various religions and how mimetic behaviour shows up through the practice of ritual sacrifice.
Rene Girard walks you from the start to the end of using sacrifice as a method of control using mimetic behaviour ... starting as a way to 'appease the gods' to keep peasants from murdering each other, to ending ritual sacrifice with the spread of Christianity & the story of the ultimate sacrifice of God's son.
The book explores the subject very thoroughly with good logic, through many different periods of history and different religions.
A short book, it's recommended reading if you're interested in learning more about human psyche and mimetic theory.
As a Bitcoiner, I've often heard people describe the tribalism you see in cryptocurrencies as mimetic theory, but I'm not so sure that's an accurate statement after reading this book.
Sacrifice covers the various religions and how mimetic behaviour shows up through the practice of ritual sacrifice.
Rene Girard walks you from the start to the end of using sacrifice as a method of control using mimetic behaviour ... starting as a way to 'appease the gods' to keep peasants from murdering each other, to ending ritual sacrifice with the spread of Christianity & the story of the ultimate sacrifice of God's son.
The book explores the subject very thoroughly with good logic, through many different periods of history and different religions.
A short book, it's recommended reading if you're interested in learning more about human psyche and mimetic theory.
August 10, 2025
En El sacrificio, René Girard aborda uno de los temas más complejos y fascinantes de su pensamiento: la lógica sacrificial que atraviesa la historia humana y su plenitud en Cristo. Es un texto breve, pero como toda la obra de Girard, denso y exigente; requiere atención y paciencia para entrar en su profundidad. Girard recuerda que “el sacrificio verdadero no es el que exige la muerte de otro, sino el que entrega la propia vida”, y afirma que en Jesús se rompe para siempre el ciclo de la violencia sagrada: “En la cruz, Dios se pone del lado de la víctima”.
Es una lectura que no se agota en una sola pasada: invita a volver sobre sus páginas, dejarse interpelar y repensar la fe desde la clave del don total. Recomendado cien por cien para quien busque un ensayo teológico y antropológico que ilumine el misterio pascual desde una perspectiva única y muy interesante- AE
Es una lectura que no se agota en una sola pasada: invita a volver sobre sus páginas, dejarse interpelar y repensar la fe desde la clave del don total. Recomendado cien por cien para quien busque un ensayo teológico y antropológico que ilumine el misterio pascual desde una perspectiva única y muy interesante- AE
January 12, 2026
I should probably read the descriptions of books before mindlessly adding them to the reading list. I kind of just took Noval Ravikant's reading list and this was on it and I have no idea what the hell did I just listen to. I guess it has something to do with theology because it was about sacrifices. The fact that I'm currently playing Tomb Raider 2013 and there seemed to be some kind of sacrifice in that and this book might have helped me understand the nature of such things. I don't think it has added anything to my life other than it was a very quick listen while I was shoveling snow but that's about it. It's fascinating to me that there are people out there who enjoy this kind of topic and are interested in it and listen to it or read it for fun. I mean why? xD
February 15, 2024
After reading "I See Satan Fall Like Lightning", I was wonderstruck by Girard's Mimetic Theory. I had, coincidentally, just finished reading the Mahabarata, and so upon finding this, Girard's own mimetic theory-based analysis of the Vedas, I was enthralled. I read it in an afternoon, and was sorrowfully disappointed. He mainly just restates his theory a bunch and hand picks like 3 things and says that the whole of Hinduism is the same. He... kind of gets his point across, but also neglects to talk about so many of the more interesting things about Hinduism which I was interested in [as a Christian], mainly Vaishnavism. Oh well.
January 22, 2024
The book is the transcription of 3 conferences, short, but dense. It's not my first exposure to Girard, and I'm probably less dazzled than before.
Girard's theory, or the way Girard lays out his theory, is fascinating. It makes me feel like I'm being seduced by a cult. The man knows how to handle the word.
I reject many things more because of the form than the content, as an excessive defense of his own theory and his radical condemnation of everything that opposes it. Either he was very convinced that his theory explained everything or his ego was bigger than all of Creation. Both things were probably true.
The most notable thing (for me) about the book is the ability of this man to analyze things and to put blinders on things that do not fall within his own scheme.
But the basis, the mimetic theory, is a deep sea in the unconscious mind that mercilessly attracts
Girard's theory, or the way Girard lays out his theory, is fascinating. It makes me feel like I'm being seduced by a cult. The man knows how to handle the word.
I reject many things more because of the form than the content, as an excessive defense of his own theory and his radical condemnation of everything that opposes it. Either he was very convinced that his theory explained everything or his ego was bigger than all of Creation. Both things were probably true.
The most notable thing (for me) about the book is the ability of this man to analyze things and to put blinders on things that do not fall within his own scheme.
But the basis, the mimetic theory, is a deep sea in the unconscious mind that mercilessly attracts
December 2, 2022
A concepção de desejo mimético é interessantíssima, mas não exime Girard de sustentar seus argumentos. Esse livro é particularmente fraco em argumentação, estando mais para um ensaio (ou conferências) de opinião. Ele diz o que pensa, sem se preocupar com a sustentação. Chega a tratar seus argumentos, especialmente quanto ao caráter excepcional do cristianismo, como obviedades. Honestamente, eu esperava mais de um pensador de sua envergadura.
September 8, 2025
Un muy buen ensayo donde la hipótesis del sacrificio como constitutivo en la formación de las instituciones sociales, políticas y religiosas del mundo arcaico es sugerente, muy sugerente. A ello se le suma el cristianismo como destructor del sacrificio por desvelar el núcleo.
En no pocas ocasiones unas pocas páginas dicen más que cientos y este es el caso.
Muy alejado de la nueva antropología mágica
En no pocas ocasiones unas pocas páginas dicen más que cientos y este es el caso.
Muy alejado de la nueva antropología mágica
September 23, 2021
Girard's mimetic theory is brilliant in its simplicity. It's great not only as a prism to analyse large-scale social flows and perturbations, but also as a tool to understand what is probably the key factor shaping personal preferences and 'wants'. It's application to sacrifice is, in my view questionable, but is novel and highlights key cultural gaps between nations.
January 26, 2020
Scape goat became a lamb and compassion and consciousness flourished. Logos for the greeks was conscious reason and compassion is indeed reasonable. RIP Dr Girard. What a liberating gift he has left us. A pinacle of the church.
August 24, 2023
I found this much more readable than the first Girard book Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World I attempted (and never finished, but intend to pick up again eventually!) I loved that this was a quicker more concise overview. I love Girard’s concepts, I just wish he were easier to read.
July 8, 2017
Girard is great, but this is far from his best work.
August 19, 2021
El sacrificio
Excelente!!! sobre todo su explicación sobre el papel del mito y cómo este esconde de cierta manera la violencia “sagrada “fundadora de las religiones
Excelente!!! sobre todo su explicación sobre el papel del mito y cómo este esconde de cierta manera la violencia “sagrada “fundadora de las religiones
January 13, 2019
Novel ideas, but Girard fails to distinguish between “true” and “useful”. What is useful might not be true and what is true might not be useful.
April 23, 2021
There are many interesting passages in this account of blood sacrifice, but probably none is more interesting than the following:
"What mimetic theory shows is that the singularity of Christianity is literally demonstrable, but on a paradoxical basis: the admission of all the resemblances so well observed, albeit naively, by the adversaries of this religion...mimetic theory encompasses the black hole of mob violence, a hole that extends from ordinary witnesses, to the bandits on the sides of Jesus, to Pontius Pilate himself...even more troubling Peter's denial of Jesus out of fear, Peter "a follower" yet seduced by mob violence...so we demonstrate the singularity of this sacrifice as one of total abandonment, uttered by Jesus himself, "My Father, My Father, why has thou forsaken me?"
For Girard, whose work exposes the typical community as based on illusion of the rejected other, otherwise called the "scapegoat," each human community is based or founded on an illusion, on a deception, a myth, while Christianity challenges all myth by exposing the lie of the scapegoat. Myths require blood sacrifice for they require that a lie be satisfied, while Christianity, unlike every myth and unlike every religious practice, eschews the need for the scapegoat, making all men and women one family. Girard accuses Freud of forced complicity in this lie because he makes the Oedipal complex central to the structure of male masculinity.
What then is Christianity? Is it a religion? No. Is it a social movement? No. Is it a story? No. It is a revelation of what the human condition actually is. It reveals the insanity of mimetic rivalry. It reveals the false power moves of the "system of justice." Myths are stories controlled by the kings of this earth. The Bible exposes all the lies of human community based on anything other than the Holy One, the Anointed One, "This is My Son with Whom I Am Pleased."
"What mimetic theory shows is that the singularity of Christianity is literally demonstrable, but on a paradoxical basis: the admission of all the resemblances so well observed, albeit naively, by the adversaries of this religion...mimetic theory encompasses the black hole of mob violence, a hole that extends from ordinary witnesses, to the bandits on the sides of Jesus, to Pontius Pilate himself...even more troubling Peter's denial of Jesus out of fear, Peter "a follower" yet seduced by mob violence...so we demonstrate the singularity of this sacrifice as one of total abandonment, uttered by Jesus himself, "My Father, My Father, why has thou forsaken me?"
For Girard, whose work exposes the typical community as based on illusion of the rejected other, otherwise called the "scapegoat," each human community is based or founded on an illusion, on a deception, a myth, while Christianity challenges all myth by exposing the lie of the scapegoat. Myths require blood sacrifice for they require that a lie be satisfied, while Christianity, unlike every myth and unlike every religious practice, eschews the need for the scapegoat, making all men and women one family. Girard accuses Freud of forced complicity in this lie because he makes the Oedipal complex central to the structure of male masculinity.
What then is Christianity? Is it a religion? No. Is it a social movement? No. Is it a story? No. It is a revelation of what the human condition actually is. It reveals the insanity of mimetic rivalry. It reveals the false power moves of the "system of justice." Myths are stories controlled by the kings of this earth. The Bible exposes all the lies of human community based on anything other than the Holy One, the Anointed One, "This is My Son with Whom I Am Pleased."
June 21, 2015
I have a colleague who thinks the sun rises and sets on Rene Girard, so I started with this book because I could get it on Audible.
I didn't care for the narrator, but the theory is intriguing. I will have to read more of Girard. I also enjoyed the last chapter defense of both Christianity and the Vedic religions.
I didn't care for the narrator, but the theory is intriguing. I will have to read more of Girard. I also enjoyed the last chapter defense of both Christianity and the Vedic religions.
November 15, 2016
I was already familiar with Rene Girard through the increasing tribe of "Girardians" who enthusiastically advance his theory on mimesis, but this was my first formal introduction to his work. I enjoyed his comparison between the Gospels and certain stories from the Vedic tradition and am excited to probe more deeply into his view.
February 10, 2023
Obra clave, a leer conjuntamente con ”La violencia y lo sagrado". Junto con Freud, Mauss y Bataille, Girard se aventura a conceder una explicación omnicomprensiva del sacrificio, un patrón universal, en una época en la que erróneamente se cree que éste ha desaparecido.
February 1, 2014
Ah Rene. What a great way to see the atonement. I'll never see it another way.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews