The use and abuse of the scapegoat
The use and abuse of the scapegoat

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses Girard’s discovery of the undoing by the biblical tradition of a mechanism on which human culture rests world‑ wide. His literary studies brought him to the analysis of religious tradi‑ tions and to the insight that sacrificial means are used in all human con‑ duct to counterbalance the mimetic dependence by which people fear to lose their autonomy. Their common form is scapegoating, but Christ’s radicalization of the biblical message has exposed and invalidated its efficacy. The article discusses the quandary that emerged from this and the possible answer to the threatening derailment of society.

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