René Noël Théophile Girard (; ; December 25, 1923 – November 4, 2015) was a French-American historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science. His writings were based on anthropological philosophy. Girard was the author of nearly thirty books with his writings spanning many academic domains. His work was based on literary criticism, critical theory, anthropology, theology, psychology, mythology, sociology, economics, cultural studies, and philosophy.