Violence and the SacredRené Girard
Violence and the Sacred
by René Girard · first published 2005
7mentions
4recommended by
6HN commenters
2012–2024first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
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…religion. It provides a useful lens to reason about messianic cults, as well as social power dynamics. There's a good overview on his Wikipedia page, but he delves into this particular topic in the book Violence and the Sacred. He also pioneered the field of Generative Anthropology, which other academics like Eric Gans have built upon, theorizing about the mechanism in much more detail, and using it to explain effects in modern…
on “How Signal Walks the Line Between Anarchism and Pragmatism” ↗Violence and the Sacred is a book that tries to answer, among some other things, why ritual sacrifices used to happen. I haven’t finished it yet, René Girard could perhaps be a bit meandering, but it’s an insightful read so…
on “Ancient Carthaginians did sacrifice their children” ↗"Violence and the sacred" by Rene Girard.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗Go read 'Violence and the Sacred' - there is a deep link between violence and religion - but religion is not the origin of the other.
I read Violence and the Sacred when I was 8... it changed my life forever.
on “Things I Learned from René Girard” ↗…in nature. Right now we have a lot of access to college, but that access has led to ballooning problems with student loans, along with Girard-style mimetic crises ( https://jakeseliger.com/2017/06/27/violence-and-the-sacred-o... ).
on “The World Might Be Better Off Without College for Everyone” ↗…then kill animals instead of people. And so on. It was a really interesting exercise of rationalism! If someone can find the source for me, I’ll give them my 2 internet points :) Edit: I think it was Violence and the Sacred by Rene Girard.
on “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” ↗