Da Stendhal a Clausewitz, attraverso Aron: Girard pensatore politico?

Starting with some considerations on the essential features of a work of political thought, the paper considers two books by René Girard separated by almost half a century (Deceit, Desire and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure and Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoît Chantre). Of these important and very different works, actually the first and the last of the French writer, the paper tries to offer a reading focused on political themes. Particular attention is given to the interpretation of the classical On war by the Prussian officer Carl von Clausewitz compared with the vast reconstruction of Clausewitz’s thought by Raymond Aron, thirty years earlier in the political context of the Cold War. Girard’s reading of Clausewitz is inspired instead by the 9/11 event: the last paragraph of the article focuses on the problems originated by the rising of jihadist terrorism and Girard’s reflections on the relationship between religion and violence, with regard to some peculiar aspects in Islamic texts and tradition.