The archaic origin of rites mimesis, phylogenetic rites, cultural rites

Abstract

The French philosopher R. Girard in his work Violence and the Sacred studies the phenomenon of the scapegoat, i.e. the social cohesion of a group on the basis of a common enemy, a sacrificial victim. This anthropological theory of culture is related to the so-called replacement violence of biology, i.e. violence diverted towards common enemies for the protection of the community. If for S. Freud cultural development inevitably generates neurosis by imposing on the individual a double contradictory order (satisfying desires and at the same time repressing desires), for Girard cultural development generates not discomfort, but sanity in the individual, protecting him from the undifferentiated violence of archaic times. Perhaps modern judicial institutions have tried to rationalize the figure of the common enemies of society through penal laws as rational as possible.