Not had a chance to listen to it yet, but Joshi is interviewed on RM Price's Point of Inquiry podcast > HERE

Amusing, and pathetic - Price's inept scholarship is well known to me - but, indeed, using "weird fiction" as a replacement for religeous writing? - "may the Force be with you" - For those of you who might like a brief ticket for admission to some of the "deeper secrets" - collaterally revealed - I recommend Robert Graves' "King Jesus" - he lets many a cat out of the bag - also in "The White Goddess" - both require deeper scholarship than is commonly available to most - but challenging, and the latter text, after the 10th reading, will begin to yield great rewards, both to the incisive reader, and the aspiring author.

I wish that Joshi would stick to Lovecraft and weird fiction, although Shub-Niggurath knows that he sometimes goofs there, as well.

As an aside, I'd really enjoy hearing Joshi and Price debate the likes of Andrew Louth or David B. Hart--these last would chew them up and spit them out.

As a further aside, one has to love the invitation at the end of the program for parents to send their kids to "Camp Inquiry", where the attendees will be cured of the silly illusions of spirituality, and be indoctrinated instead into the dogma of atheistic materialism and Scientism--a real improvement, that!

Anyway, just so that others do not have to subject themselves to the broadcast, the interesting bits. so far as readers of this forum are likely to be concerned, are as follows:

1. While he acknowledges Lovecraft's racism, Joshi does not believe that it is integral to his work or to a moral evaluation of his character. Indeed, Joshi clearly states that Lovecraft's racism is more an intellectual failing than a moral one.

2. Lovecraft's correspondence with CAS should be published next year.

3. Joshi envisages publishing Lovecraft's complete letters in a 25 (or so)-volume set over the next ten or fifteen years.

4. Joshi is halfway through a comprehensive two-volume history of supernatural literature. It is to cover the period of Gilgamesh to the present.

Remember that while the fox knows many things, the hedgehog knows one big thing.

Absquatch Wrote:
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> Anyway, just so that others do not have to subject
> themselves to the broadcast, the interesting bits.
> so far as readers of this forum are likely to be
> concerned, are as follows:
>
> 1. While he acknowledges Lovecraft's racism,
> Joshi does not believe that it is integral to his
> work or to a moral evaluation of his character.
> Indeed, Joshi clearly states that Lovecraft's
> racism is more an intellectual failing than a
> moral one.
>
> 2. Lovecraft's correspondence with CAS should be
> published next year.
>
> 3. Joshi envisages publishing Lovecraft's
> complete letters in a 25 (or so)-volume set over
> the next ten or fifteen years.
>
> 4. Joshi is halfway through a comprehensive
> two-volume history of supernatural literature. It
> is to cover the period of Gilgamesh to the
> present.

Well, I think you have boiled down the key points - still, news of the last three points alone (the first just being something you happen to agree with) mean it's hardly a complete waste of time in terms of useful content, I hope...

As for the first point, I am sure I am not the only one who agrees with it. It's an important point, one that takes a fair amount time in the discussion, and I think it's also important to hear one of the leading Lovecraft scholars state it, as opposed the opinions of wanna-be online "scholars" with political agendas who troll message boards.

What actually makes most of the broadcast a waste of time, in my opinion, is listening to two individuals with no competence in philosophy or theology fatuously congratulate themselves about how enlightened they are to be atheistic materialists. Listen for yourselves and judge, though; I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from doing so.

Absquatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What actually makes most of the broadcast a waste
> of time, in my opinion, is listening to two
> individuals with no competence in philosophy or
> theology fatuously congratulate themselves about
> how enlightened they are to be atheistic
> materialists.

This is like requiring one to be a licensed homeopathist before one is allowed to point out that homeopathy is pseudoscience.

"No competence in philosophy or theology"? Allow me to remind you that Joshi has done postgraduate work in classical philosophy, and Price has a PhD in theology.

That's fascinating about Joshi's and Price's backgrounds, which indeed I did not know. That makes their fatuous remarks even less excusable.

Quote:

This is like requiring one to be a licensed homeopathist before one is allowed to point out that homeopathy is pseudoscience.

No, it is more like requiring that someone who states that homeopathy is a pseudo-science actually know something about what homeopathy is.

The forum won't let me edit, for some silly reason, so here's the rest:

When endeavoring to refute Aquinas, for instance, it sort of helps to know what Aquinas's arguments are, and to understand them.

Anyway, I am not going to get into a flame war about all this with you, kids, lest once again the ire of the moderator be roused. I summarized the points in the broadcast that I feel would be of interest and relevance to this forum. Anyone who wishes to listen to the rest of the program, which consists mostly of Price's brown-nosing of Joshi and plugging the latter's superficial atheist tracts, is welcome to do so. Have a ball!

it should not be necessary to add this, but I support neither theists nor atheists, and I stand four-square with CAS when he writes,

Quote:

All human thought, all science, all religion, is the holding of a candle to the night of the universe.

Aye, it's weird to have such respect for Joshi on the one point you agree with him, but on everything else he's a tool because you don't. I wouldn't say the interview was particularly revealing or insightful, but then two people who broadly agree with each other are never going to create the most lively of debates... Equally, I'd agree that their dismissal of all religious writers as being feeble reeked of prejudice to my ears. As for RM Price, while I've not heard it myself, I believe that his Bible Geek cast has a strong following by God-bods and heretic unbelievers alike (or so my ex-Born Again friend tells me). I never understand the argument that you can't criticise religion or be an atheist without having read every religious text under the sun first... it doesn't matter what some 2000 year old superstitious dogma says (and I'm sure there's some pearls of wisdom in there too), it's going to require some better evidence than the testimony of some long dead zealots to make me believe in stuff that there is absolutely no evidence for... neither do you have to read the Communist Manifesto to be a capitalist...

But anyway, I mainly added it here because Joshi is a frequent topic in these forums and therefore thought that it might be of general interest and the added bonus of some publication details was a pleasant surprise.

Well I, for one, rather enjoyed the interview; though I will admit that I didn't find much of it particularly revelatory, I did find it entertaining. So thank you for bringing my attention to it.

As for Absquatch's points -- sadly, as usual, I disagree more than agree there, but as he has stated elsewhere, it is pointless to argue as neither of us is going to convince the other, and most of the things I would choose to say have been said either by myself or by other posters.

Absquatch Wrote:
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> 2. Lovecraft's correspondence with CAS should be
> published next year.


Would someone with authority please tell them to include Lovecraft's and Smith's illustrations from the letters. Illustrations were included in Lovecrafts's Selected Letters from Arkham House and in Smith's Letters to Lovecraft from Necronomicon Press. They are an integral part of the letters. If the publication is to be a work of love, rather than just as dutiful effort under pressed time schedule, those illustrations should be included.

I feel that if I, with my lack of standing, write to the publisher, it will just go into the waste basket. That is my experience.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Would someone with authority please tell them to
> include Lovecraft's and Smith's illustrations from
> the letters. Illustrations were included in
> Lovecrafts's Selected Letters from Arkham House
> and in Smith's Letters to Lovecraft from
> Necronomicon Press. They are an integral part of
> the letters. If the publication is to be a work of
> love, rather than just as dutiful effort under
> pressed time schedule, those illustrations should
> be included.
>
> I feel that if I, with my lack of standing, write
> to the publisher, it will just go into the waste
> basket. That is my experience.

Illustrations have been included in the other letter collections, so I think it is a safe bet.