The clash between Nietzsche's celebration of Dionysian values and Girard's defense of the Crucified forms the crux of a riveting discussion. Girard presents his theory of mimetic desire, exposing how social perception shapes our wants and fuels conflict. Christian forgiveness is spotlighted as a powerful response to violence, challenging traditional ideas of morality. As Girard reflects on his spiritual transformation, he critiques Nietzsche's legacy, suggesting that recognizing innocence can revolutionize our understanding of victimhood and cultural narratives.
René Girard posits that human civilization is built on collective violence against scapegoats, challenging Nietzsche's celebration of tragedy and suffering.
Girard critiques Nietzsche's endorsement of Dionysian violence, asserting that Christianity confronts violence and offers a moral path towards redemption.
The concept of mimetic desire highlights how competitive rivalries lead to scapegoating, which societies use to maintain order and unity.
Deep dives
Nietzsche's Antica Morale
Nietzsche's philosophy is deeply influenced by what he refers to as Antica Morale, rooted in the moral sentiments of ancient Hellenic civilization. He perceives a tragic outlook on life, framed as a 'pessimism of strength,' where suffering and violence are intertwined with the essence of life. This tragic perspective is reflected in Greek tragedies, where heroes face inevitable suffering and death, affirming a life that acknowledges such pain rather than escaping from it. Nietzsche celebrates this worldview, suggesting that violence is vital for culture, seeing it as part of the creative process that ultimately shapes human experience.
The Crucified and Christian Morality
Contrastingly, Nietzsche's concept of the morality of the crucified represents a radical departure from the ancient worldview, most notably embodied in Christianity. This morality advocates for nonviolence, forgiveness, and the sanctity of the oppressed, reflecting the voice of those marginalized by societal structures. Nietzsche critiques this as a 'slave revolt in morality,' arguing that it emerges from an inability of the oppressed to retaliate against their oppressors. This shift represents a fundamental challenge to the Antica Morale, as it seeks to redefine goodness and the nature of suffering through an entirely different lens.
Ressentiment and Its Psychological Impact
Ressentiment is identified by Nietzsche as a psychological state arising from the repression of vengeance, resulting in a desire for revenge that cannot be acted upon. This feeling leads to an inner conflict, where the individual grapples with guilt and the urge to forgive, yet is unable to release their pain. Nietzsche argues that this internalized resentment serves to create a 'bad conscience,' contributing to the psychological turmoil of individuals shaped by Christian morality. The impact of ressentiment diminishes humanity's capacity to embrace their primal instincts and desires, rendering individuals spiritually brittle.
Girard's Critique of Nietzsche
René Girard counters Nietzsche’s notions by positioning Christianity as a transformative force that seeks to dismantle cycles of violence and scapegoating inherent to human culture. Girard argues that instead of liberating the spirit through expressions of the Dionysian, Christianity confronts the darker realities of human violence and strives to offer a path toward redemption through awareness of innocence. He critiques Nietzsche's endorsement of the tragic worldview, asserting that it fails to address the destructive consequences of perpetuating violence through the acceptance of the higher man being sacrificed for the sake of culture. In Girard’s view, the full realization of Jesus' martyrdom reveals the moral bankruptcy of collective violence central to Nietzsche's Dionysian perspective.
The Role of Mimetic Desire
Girard introduces the concept of mimetic desire, suggesting that human desires are often formed in relation to how others desire certain objects or outcomes. This mimetic rivalry creates conflict when multiple individuals or groups seek that which is limited in availability, often leading to violence. The notion lies at the heart of how communities function, as shared desires can either strengthen social bonds or incite competition and discord. Girard argues that mimetic desire is crucial in understanding the scapegoating process, as societies tend to target individuals to channel and alleviate collective tensions resulting from this rivalry.
The Scapegoating Mechanism
Girard elaborates on the scapegoating mechanism as a societal coping strategy to manage violence and maintain order. When societal tensions boil over due to mimetic rivalry, communities often identify a scapegoat—a person or group blamed for the unrest—offering them up for collective punishment. This ritualized act serves to unify the group by redirecting their violence toward the scapegoat, which, paradoxically, reinstates social cohesion. Rather than addressing underlying issues, this process merely perpetuates cycles of violence and reinforces the status quo through collective amnesia, as societies often remember the scapegoat as a divine figure posthumously.
Among Nietzsche's critics, René Girard is perhaps unique. Girard's understanding of human civilization and the origins of human culture is that it is based on ritual, collective violence against a scapegoated individual - and he argues that Nietzsche is one of the only thinkers hitherto who understood this. Nietzsche's famous formula - Dionysus versus the Crucified - is the title of Girard's critical essay on Nietzsche. He does not quibble with Nietzsche's framing of the situation, but rather with Nietzsche's conclusions. While Nietzsche takes up for the side of Dionysus, Girard stands on the side of the Crucified, arguing that Nietzsche was fundamentally wrong to lament the ascendance of Christianity and to yearn for a return to the Dionysian. In the course of Nietzsche's defense of Dionysus, he put forward moral theories that were "untenable", and become increasingly "inhuman". Among the many commenters of Nietzsche, both disciples and critics, it is rare to find a figure like Girard, who recognizes Nietzsche's brilliance, but totally condemns his legacy. Join me today to learn about the life of Rene Girard, his theories of mimetic desire and scapegoating, and the impassioned case he puts forward for The Crucified.
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