The Scape Goat, by René Girard, Is an Interview With David Cayley

René Girard first described mimetic desire in his book Deceit, Desire and the Novel. He says our ancestors must have hit upon some way of keeping their violence at bay. The anthropological record suggests that they must have discovered the unifying power of a common enemy. For Gerard, the discovery of the saving power of scapegoat is the beginning of both religion and culture.