Leadership Notes

Girard Reader Ch. 5 The Goodness of Mimetic Desire

Board Plan:
Thesis: With a clear understanding and representation of a perfect, positive
model one can demonstrate and advocate good mimetic desire
Mimetic Desire: good or bad? (Intro, 62-63)
Opening Out of Oneself (63-64)
The Perfect Model (64-65)
Sections:
Mimetic Desire: good or bad? [15-20 min.]
In the introduction paragraph to the chapter, there is a clarification about
mimetic desire, what is it?
(In other words, what clarification does Girard make about the idea and his
thoughts on mimetic desire?)
-Girard says that mimetic desire is good in itself . . . and that it can take
destructive forms in relation to the human race
-it is also brought to the readers attention his statement that Christianity
cannot renounce mimetic desire because Jesus called for an imitation of him
in order to further imitate the Father.
(Well talk further about what renouncing mimetic desire can mean as we
move along the chapter)
On page 62, after the introduction, Rebecca Adams questions Girard on his
statement that to follow Christ means to give up or renounce mimetic
desire. She comes to the conclusion through that idea, that the freedom of
the will is an illusion that must also be renounced.
-(Bottom of p. 62) Girard answers by saying that he believes in freedom of
the will and then brings up the example of Jesus and his discussion of
scandals to his disciples. What does Jesus say about scandals and how might
it relate to Girards idea on mimetic desire? (In other words, what do we
know about scandals and how can they be a problem in terms of mimetic
desire?) I thought that what Girard might be saying by this example is that
the misuse of free will and also the misinterpretation of mimetic desire can
become a skandalon, a stumbling block, for people. Like discussed before,
this idea of mimetic desire can trip people up if they only focus on the
negative or bad side of it.
Moving into p. 63, still on this idea of the good and bad forms mimetic desire
can take, the idea of renunciation is talked about again. So what does
renunciation mean? It means relinquishing or turning away from.

-Girards first response on the renunciation of mimetic desire is that people

can never truly resist it, but, he says, They can convert away from it.
Keeping in mind that convert means to change something into a different
form, I took what Girard said to mean that he thinks instead of renouncing
mimetic desire altogether, we should change what form of mimetic desire we
perform, the ______ (bad) kind into the _____ (good) kind.
-He, Girard, brings up the idea of Jesus advocating for mimetic desire, in its
best form, in argument to not relinquish mimetic desire. However, Girard
does think mimetic desire should be done away with when in its worst form,
the one that creates ________ (mimetic rivalry) and in turn creates ______
(violence).
Towards the bottom of p. 63 Girard gives another example in order to further
iterate his thought that the full renunciation of mimetic desire is not the
right answer. (What religion does Girard mention in regards to the
renunciation of mimetic desire?)
-He, Girard, makes the point to note that Buddhism works to do away with all
mimetic desire in relation to their beliefs and practices. He also says that the
religion calls for getting out of this world (which well talk more about in
the next section). In relation to Buddhist thought, Girard says that
Christianity never calls for getting out of this world, rather they look for the
origin of things.
-What Rebecca Adams concludes from his example is a good segue into the
next two sections because she brings up the idea that renouncing mimetic
desire wont work unless its through the imitation of a positive model.
Opening out of Oneself [10-15 min.]
Now on p. 64, moving into my next section, Opening out of Oneself, we
bring back the idea Girard derives from Buddhism, the getting out of this
world experience.
-For Girard, mimetic desire, even when bad, is good because it is an opening
out of oneself. He also describes this openness as a path to openness for
others. In saying this, I think he is making the point to say that if one were to
have this extreme openness as he describes, one could potentially get rid
of the urge for mimetic rivalry.
-Which stories or characters have we talked about that have embodied this
opening out of oneself or getting out of this world experience when
under the infliction of accusations and violence?
(Which characters that we have talked about have been out of themselves
when looking to something or someone higher in situations when everyone
was against them?) Susanna (looked to heaven when the elders did not),
Stephen (said he was full of the Holy Spirit and for this they stoned him. He
looked to heaven, and like Jesus, asked that the sins of the people not be
held against them), Jesus (main example)
-In reference to Jesus, throughout his whole life he calls for people to imitate
him and desire to be like God. When all of his own people were against him,
he still advocated for nonviolence. He didnt curse the people nor did he

show resentment in any way. He instead said Forgive them Father for they
know not what they do. He looks to a higher being for understanding.
The Perfect Model [15-20 min.]
In relation to being out of oneself and looking to something higher, Girard
seems to regard Jesus as a perfect model for positive mimetic desire. As
Rebecca Adams states on p. 63, there needs to be a positive model for
people to base their mimetic desires on and to ultimately lose interest in the
bad forms of mimetic desire.
-On p. 64, we come back to this idea of desires in terms of others. Again,
Girard says that Jesus himself says it is good in reference to mimetic desire
and also that mimetic desire is a desire for God. Rebecca Adams brings up a
topic she mentions earlier, but I thought was more important to note once
weve found a positive model to imitate. She mentions that the imitation of
Christ could also be understood as a desire for love and community. This is
where Girard makes another clarification that cultural imitation is a positive
form of mimetic desire.
-All semester we have seen examples of where this hasnt truly been the
case. Weve seen and talked about examples of mimetic desire turning into
mimetic rivalry. Can we list some and maybe briefly describe why they
relate? (Cain and Abel then turning into the forming of civilization, Romulus
and Ramus then seen as a glorious act of violence to again build civilization),
etc.
-In terms of community, they seem to have it all wrong because they miss or
lose sight of a positive model, whether it be religious, spiritual or not. Coming
back to the topic of love, it is a great subject to close the discussion on the
goodness of mimetic desire.
(Bottom of p. 64 going into 65) Rebecca Adams brings up the Golden Rule in
relation to true, positive desire and love for the Other. She then asks Girard
what he thinks of this in terms of desire, whether desire on behalf of the
Other, what she calls nonviolent, saintly desire, is an excess of desire
rather than a renunciation of desire. What is Girards response in relation to
having this positive mimetic desire? (In other words, what must also be
present in order to have positive, mimetic desire for the Other?) ________
(divine grace)
-In closing out this section The Perfect Model and also ending p. 65, we see
that Girard believes that this divine grace is present whether or not it is
recognized as such, as he says. What I thought about in regards to this
statement was that whether someone wants to refer to opening out of
oneself as looking to heaven and God like Susanna did or whether they
regard the religious and spiritual Jesus as a perfect, positive model for
mimetic desire, there still needs to be a positive model to imitate in order for
mimetic desire to work in its best form, in order for everyone to see the
goodness of mimetic desire.