Scapegoat. 2nd edition, fixed. Girard R.

Rene Girard (1923-2015)-French philosopher, creator of the original comprehensive theory of the origin of religion and culture. He was glorified by the book “Violence and the Holy” (1972), but only in the book “The Kosel of Scape” (1982) did Girar's theory appear as a whole form. On the example of texts about medieval persecution of Jews, the philosopher introduces the concept of “texts of persecution” - texts composed by the persecutors themselves, but against their will discover the truth about the innocence of the victim - and shows that it is these texts that are all the mythology of the world.

The main thesis of Girar, which first caused a wave of indignation in the intellectual world, and then acquired many supporters, is that people learned to decipher these texts only thanks to the gospel revelation. According to Girar, the liberation and at the same time the destructive action of this revelation continues in our days - and this book serves as one of its guns.

Translation of Grigory Dashevsky was awarded the prize by Maurice Vax Maucer (2010).