René Girard (1923-2015) was a French-born American historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science whose work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy. He was a member of the elite Académie Française for his groundbreaking work in human nature after having spent nearly fifty years elaborating his theory of mimetic desire. Cynthia L. Haven (introducer) is a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar. She writes regularly for The Times Literary Supplement, and has also contributed to The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and others. She is the author of Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard (2018) and Conversations with René Girard: Prophet of Envy (2020).