[AnimalMuppet]

There is mimetic desire. It exists. It happens. Where Girard falls down is that this is not the only way we develop desires.

Girard has his system, and wants to make everything fit in it. But his system doesn't actually cover everything, and so he has to amputate everything that doesn't fit. That's... not a good system, and not a good way to do philosophy.

[wenc]

I've read Girard and watched many of his lectures (including the 5-part series).

I generally agree with mimetic theory and find it explanatory in many situations. It is a useful theory in that sense.

Like all theories, I think it has its limits. As you noted, I don't think it fully explains the formation of all desires. For instance, for me it seems to not explain novel desire. What if we had several models of desire (i.e. other people, inspiration from nature, etc.), and we were to "synthesize" a new desire that was heretofore unthought of? Is that new desire mimetic? I suppose you could argue that the new desire was intermediated by several models, but it seems to not allow for the possibility of creativity, even if that creativity was merely the blending of several models.

[twayt]

For induction to work, you need to have a base-case to apply the inductive rule to.

There definitionally has to be at least one desire that isn't derived from others.

I don't think Girard would ever seriously have made the absolute claim that all desire is mimetic.

[twayt]

Do you have a source where Girard claims that mimetic desire is the only way we develop desires? The closest quote I could find from him is that "All desire is a desire for being". But I'm genuinely curious if you know of a quote where he claims that mimetic desire is the only kind of desire that exists.

[AlbertCory]

How about the one I already cited, where he's being interviewed and says:

I think desire usually is born out of the contemplation of someone else who is desiring and who designates to you the object he is desiring as desirable.

"usually" is not the same as "always", admittedly. But it's fair to say it means "more than 50% of the time, maybe much more."

[twayt]

I would probably agree with Girard that "usually" is accurate if you consider the aggregate of human behavior