The Development of the Self

Abstract

Girard develops an interdividual psychology of the self, which considers the formation of personal identity as derived from mimetic relationships. Hence, Girard’s theory of the self implies both an anti-subjectivist stance and a hypostatization of desire. The identity of the self is constantly changing both on an individual and on a historical level. The Gospels reveal the nature of interdividual psychology; however, the history of the development of the self into a Christian “person” in modernity is not linear, as the mimetic victimage mechanism constantly tries to resist the ability of the Christian message to perpetuate itself.