This edited volume situates René Girard in relation to the Western philosophical tradition. Each chapter engages the French anthropologist in dialogue with a key figure from the history of Western philosophy, from Plato to Kierkegaard. The pivotal question of René Girard and the Western Philosophical Tradition revolves around Girard’s assertion, “Since the attempt to understand religion on the basis of philosophy has failed, we ought to try the reverse method and read philosophy in the light of religion.” Major philosophers influenced Girard and contributed valuable insights into questions of desire, religion, violence, and the sacred. At the same time, he felt that Western philosophy often, if not always, neglected the founding violence that lies at the origin of culture.
This is the first collective scholarly effort at situating René Girard in relation to the Western philosophical tradition. Volume 1 features chapters on Plato, Augustine of Hippo, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Blaise Pascal, Baruch Spinoza, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Alexis de Tocqueville, Søren Kierkegaard, and René Girard.

Andreas Wilmes completed his PhD in philosophy at the Paris Descartes University. He is a lecturer at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Budapest, Hungary) and editor-in-chief of the Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence.

George A. Dunn has taught philosophy and religious studies in both the United States and the People’s Republic of China, most recently at Renmin University of China (Beijing). He has authored, edited, or coedited eight books in English. He has also served as the English language editor for two bilingual (Chinese-English) books. He has served on the board of directors of the Global Center for Religious Research. His research interests include René Girard, mimetic theory, philosophy of religion, political philosophy, and philosophy of film and popular culture.