Phi Fic means Philosophical Fiction. Each episode, we have a candid dicussion on a heady work of of fiction, full of SPOILERS. Join host Nathan Hanks and readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire, plus the occasional guest.
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. –H.P. Lovecraft In this episode, we discuss At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft. Considered one of the greatest writers of horror and creator the science fiction horror genre, Lovecraft was primarily a short story writer during the early Continue Reading …
Ep. 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part Two)
Concluding on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) and focusing here on H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). Does Lovecraft's presentation of nameless terror capture (or improve upon) what Kristeva means by "abjection"? For the full Cthulhu experience, listen to the Phi Fic discussion of the story. If you're really hardcore, we recommend you listen to the H.P. Continue Reading …
Ep. 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Part One)
More on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) plus H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). What is the object of fear? In our last episode, we outlined Kristeva's view that it's ultimately the disintegration of self. Our purpose in this further episode (featuring Mark, Seth, and Dylan, who couldn't attend last time) was to clarify her account of how self-integrity Continue Reading …
Ep. 203: Kristeva vs. Lovecraft on Horror and Abjection (Citizen Edition)
More on Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror (1980) plus H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). What is the object of fear? In our last episode, we outlined Kristeva's view that it's ultimately the disintegration of self. Our purpose in this further episode (featuring Mark, Seth, and Dylan, who couldn't attend last time) was to clarify her account of how self-integrity Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #7 “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft
Get ready for the frightening, the horrifying, the sublime—the (in)famous Cthulhu! It’s time for H.P. Lovecraft! Join us as we read the tome of this scandalous mythos, this perturbing unrealism—The Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft opens his work about the green, gelatinous, multi-dimensional creature with fear for all us human sycophants: The most merciful thing in the world, I Continue Reading …
The Genre of Despair
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated Continue Reading …
New in Not School: Niebuhr, Kant, Zizek, Lovecraft
Hey everyone, Nathan Hanks here with an update from the Partially Examined Life's Not School. Just sign up for PEL Citizenship and you'll be able to access all the group pages and weigh in on new proposals. You'll find other members in the Citizen's Forum with these new group proposals to join in October: The Irony of American History by Reinhold Niebuhr Critique of Pure Continue Reading …
Fake Nietzsche Live and Insane
Jessica in our Nietzsche on truth episode did a good job making Nietzsche sound nice and sane. On this episode of the Dead Authors Podcast (a Paul F. Tompkins vehicle performed live on stage), comedian/impressionist James Adomian portrays him as certifiably insane. It appears that some research went into this faux interview (which also features a fake H.P. Lovecraft), with Continue Reading …