Mimetic behavior shapes human interaction and desires, influencing identity and societal validation.
Mimetic desire drives individuals to pursue objects to mirror desired qualities represented by models.
Metaphysical desire leads to compulsive behavior, existential despair, and a perpetual cycle of unfulfilled desires.
Deep dives
Understanding the Illusion of Prestige and Authentic Desire
Prestige often leads individuals to pursue the wrong goals, such as dating the wrong person or living beyond their means. The Latin word for prestige translates to illusion or mirage, highlighting the deceptive nature of societal values. The lecture provides a theory to differentiate between authentic desire and social validation to overcome the allure of prestige. By understanding the psychological forces of mimetic desire, individuals can navigate towards genuine fulfillment and away from societal pressures.
Unpacking Mimetic Behavior and Desire
Mimetic behavior forms the foundation of human interaction, allowing individuals to mirror and internalize external behaviors. Mimetic desire, a subset of mimetic behavior, includes metaphysical desire and physical desire. Metaphysical desire focuses on identity and societal validation, while physical desire pursues experience and utility. Understanding these desires reveals the inherent social nature of human motivation and decision-making.
The Three Fundamental Ends of Human Desire
Gerard identifies three core desires driving human behavior: the quest for social recognition, the pursuit of lasting identity, and the aspiration for self-sufficiency. Humans seek to establish their presence in the social realm, ensure their identity endures through time, and exert influence over their environment. These abstract ideals of reality, persistence, and power shape individuals' interactions with society and their pursuit of fulfillment.
The Driving Force of Metaphysical Desire
Metaphysical desire, according to Gerard, is the key motivational faculty of all humans, prompting us to seek objects not for their inherent value but to mirror the model we aspire to be like. This desire compels us to adopt the desires of celebrities, parental figures, or colleagues, believing that by acquiring the objects they value, we can attain a sense of fullness in our being. The triangular nature of desire, traveling from subject through model to object, underscores how our pursuit of objects is rooted in our quest to embody the qualities represented by these models, rather than the objects themselves.
The Deceitful and Ungovernable Nature of Metaphysical Desire
Metaphysical desire, being malleable and powerful, often leads to compulsive behavior and existential despair as we relentlessly chase objects to fulfill our identity. Despite our fervent pursuit, these objects do not bring lasting satisfaction or transform our being as expected. The ungovernable quality of metaphysical desire, rooted in its deceitful nature, overrides reason and agency, trapping individuals in a perpetual cycle of disappointment and unfulfilled desires. This intrinsic human drive, driven by pridefulness and mirrored in the pursuit of divine qualities, represents the foundation of all sin, revealing humanity's deepest and most pervasive motivational force.
Mimesis, mimetic desire, and metaphysical desire are the fundamental building blocks of Girard’s psychology. They will show us how even the most intimate aspects of our identity can be radically shaped by others and how to distinguish vanity from authenticity. These psychological fundaments are what make humans social animals, why prestige and recognition matter so much to us, and how we are able to form cultures and even language itself. They are responsible for humanity’s greatest achievements, but they also render us helplessly fallen. Under scrutiny, metaphysical desire will reveal itself to be none other than original sin. Some links to further guide your study:
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