The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence
The philosophical discourses of violence developed in the 20th century can be grasped in two fundamental paradigms: the paradigm of force (Simone Weil) and the paradigm of domination (Horkheimer and Adorno). This article aims at situating René Girard’s theory of the culture within the paradigm of vi...
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Wydawnictwo Naukowe Chrześcijańskiej Akademii Teologicznej w Warszawie (Scientific Publishing House of the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw)
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Studia z Teorii Wychowania |
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| Online Access: | http://sztw.chat.edu.pl/gicid/01.3001.0053.9077 |
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| author | Paulina Sosnowska |
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| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The philosophical discourses of violence developed in the 20th century can be grasped in two fundamental paradigms: the paradigm of force (Simone Weil) and the paradigm of domination (Horkheimer and Adorno). This article aims at situating René Girard’s theory of the culture within the paradigm of violence as an immediate force, stemming from Simone Weil’s phenomenological description of force in The Iliad. Simone Weil can be read as a model for modern reflection on violence in different ways. One of them can be identifying her interpretation of The Iliad as a starting point for the critique or even unmasking of blind reifying violence through the philosophy of culture: an example of this kind of translation can be found in Girard and his analyses of the figure of the scapegoat and rituals of violence, (sanctioned within myth), transferring violence into a sacral sphere. The pivotal point of the comparison is the concept of kydos, “the triumphant fascination of superior violence,” developed by Girard in Violence and the Sacred. The Greek term, which connects violence, understood in the mode of immediate force, with the magical and sacral dimension, serves as a key concept for comparison of the two thinkers’ conceptualizations of force. It allows interpretation of the conceptual tenets of Girardian theory, such as unanimity, symmetry, mimesis, and myth in the light of the key concepts of Weil, such as reification, symmetry, unawareness, and the blind mechanism of force. It also allows us to point out the discrepancies between the two conceptualizations (above all, the tensions between the rationality and irrationality of violence) and to grasp Girard’s theory as a philosophical commentary on Weil’s insights. This is going to fill a space on the map of modern discourses of violence. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e54e07dac9d74d989eb4d029cd1263dc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2083-0998 2719-4078 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Wydawnictwo Naukowe Chrześcijańskiej Akademii Teologicznej w Warszawie (Scientific Publishing House of the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia z Teorii Wychowania |
| spelling | doaj-art-e54e07dac9d74d989eb4d029cd1263dc2025-08-20T03:11:29ZdeuWydawnictwo Naukowe Chrześcijańskiej Akademii Teologicznej w Warszawie (Scientific Publishing House of the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw)Studia z Teorii Wychowania2083-09982719-40782023-09-01XIV2 (43)13114510.5604/01.3001.0053.907701.3001.0053.9077The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violencePaulina Sosnowska0University of Warsaw, PolandThe philosophical discourses of violence developed in the 20th century can be grasped in two fundamental paradigms: the paradigm of force (Simone Weil) and the paradigm of domination (Horkheimer and Adorno). This article aims at situating René Girard’s theory of the culture within the paradigm of violence as an immediate force, stemming from Simone Weil’s phenomenological description of force in The Iliad. Simone Weil can be read as a model for modern reflection on violence in different ways. One of them can be identifying her interpretation of The Iliad as a starting point for the critique or even unmasking of blind reifying violence through the philosophy of culture: an example of this kind of translation can be found in Girard and his analyses of the figure of the scapegoat and rituals of violence, (sanctioned within myth), transferring violence into a sacral sphere. The pivotal point of the comparison is the concept of kydos, “the triumphant fascination of superior violence,” developed by Girard in Violence and the Sacred. The Greek term, which connects violence, understood in the mode of immediate force, with the magical and sacral dimension, serves as a key concept for comparison of the two thinkers’ conceptualizations of force. It allows interpretation of the conceptual tenets of Girardian theory, such as unanimity, symmetry, mimesis, and myth in the light of the key concepts of Weil, such as reification, symmetry, unawareness, and the blind mechanism of force. It also allows us to point out the discrepancies between the two conceptualizations (above all, the tensions between the rationality and irrationality of violence) and to grasp Girard’s theory as a philosophical commentary on Weil’s insights. This is going to fill a space on the map of modern discourses of violence.http://sztw.chat.edu.pl/gicid/01.3001.0053.9077 Simone WeilRené Girardforcedominationkydos |
| spellingShingle | Paulina Sosnowska The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence Studia z Teorii Wychowania Simone Weil René Girard force domination kydos |
| title | The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence |
| title_full | The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence |
| title_fullStr | The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence |
| title_short | The wounds of war and the scars of culture: Simone Weil and René Girard on the symmetry of violence |
| title_sort | wounds of war and the scars of culture simone weil and rene girard on the symmetry of violence |
| topic | Simone Weil René Girard force domination kydos |
| url | http://sztw.chat.edu.pl/gicid/01.3001.0053.9077 |
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