Continental and postmodern thinking has misidentified the source of violence as originating from Western metaphysics. It has further failed to acknowledge the Judeo-Christian source of its ethic--the ethic of concern for victims. In this volume Duane Armitage attempts a critique of continental philosophy and postmodernism through the lens of Ren??? Girard's mimetic theory. This critique is directed primarily at the philosophy of Nietzsche and Heidegger, both among the foremost representatives of continental and postmodern ...
Read More
Continental and postmodern thinking has misidentified the source of violence as originating from Western metaphysics. It has further failed to acknowledge the Judeo-Christian source of its ethic--the ethic of concern for victims. In this volume Duane Armitage attempts a critique of continental philosophy and postmodernism through the lens of Ren??? Girard's mimetic theory. This critique is directed primarily at the philosophy of Nietzsche and Heidegger, both among the foremost representatives of continental and postmodern thought. Detailed attention to the implications of Girard's philosophical thought results in a paradigm shift that deals perhaps a deadly blow to continental and postmodern thinking. Armitage further argues that Girard's thinking solves the very problems that continental and postmodern thinking sought (but failed) to solve, namely the problems of violence and victimization, particularly within the context of the aftermath of the Second World War. Ultimately, this volume shows that at the heart of postmodern thinking lies an entanglement with the violent sacred.
Read Less