Selfhood and Sacrifice

Andrew O'Shea is Lecturer in Philosophy of Education and Human Development at St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University, Ireland.

• Introduction Part 1. From Self to Sacrifice: Girardian Theory; I. Division and Unity in Literary Space (The Romantic Fallacy); II Division and Unity in Cultural Space (The Scapegoat Mechanism); III Negating Subjectivity and History: (Problems within Girardian Theory); Part 2. From Sacrifice to Self: Taylor's Philosophical Account; IV Transposing the Old Cosmic Order (The Modern Period); V Rethinking Division and Unity (Self, Religion, and the Current of Life); VI Crisis and Unity in Moral Space (Identity and the Good); Epilogue; Bibliography.

"This original and important study contributes significantly to our understanding of the larger coherence underpinning the debates in contemporary philosophy and religion. The comparison of Taylor and Girard provides a new point of departure for defining a hermeneutics of the sacred" -- Richard Kearney, The Charles Seelig Professor in Philosophy, Boston College, MA, USA