I have checked your cv. You don't impress me at all. And given your history of acerbic, caustic responses to people whenever they questioned you on important matters, you are not a man of honor to debate anything with; nor as far as I know are you taken all that seriously by scholars who are actually working in the field whom I know -- despite what you may believe about yourself otherwise.

As for your accusation about racism: given your documented ethnocentric and Islamophobic statements made on this list to me and others, take a look in the mirror. This pompous and ignorant statement also demonstrates the issue quite well and merely reinforces what I said in general previously, "...tell us just what was novel in any of the non-Western writers on magic you were touting..."


On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 3:48 PM, Segal, Professor Robert A. <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Check my cv.   I don't answer to you.

At the same time you continually misread things.   I didn't claim expertise on my part but on the part of the editors of DEFINING MAGIC.    But then the publisher asked me for an endorsement, so that I guess that I am seen by some as having some expertise.

You were asked by me weeks ago to tell us just what was novel in any of the non-Western writers on magic you were touting.   Still working on that information?   Your statements that non-Westerners were shamefully being overlooked was your sole argument--an ad hominem argument, and one ultimately racist itself, that carries no weight among scholars.   So I replied more than once to you.

I have no interest in any more exchanges with you.


RS
________________________________________
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of N.W. Azal [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2013 1:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Can non-europeans think (link)

But debating on the basis of knowledge is, to use a rather out-of-date line, what separates the men from the boys.

Indeed. But could I ask what you have actually written about magic on any serious level which places you among the men and not the boys?

On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 1:26 PM, Segal, Professor Robert A. <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Jan. 26

Dear Mogg,

The Presocratics versus Homeric gods?   Plato versus Homeric gods?  The Stoics saving Homeric gods only through allegory?

I appreciate your prior message, which was most cordial.

I love debating.   That is being scholarly, not unscholarly.   But debating on the basis of knowledge is, to use a rather out-of-date line, what separates the men from the boys.


Best,

Robert
________________________________________
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of mandrake [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2013 12:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Can non-europeans think (link)

Dear Friends

It is not unscholarly to debate and ask questions.

Although in your latest one too many for me - although
one caught my eye -
the conflict "religion versus science":

There is no conflict between pagan religion and science
but there was a conflict in Europe between Christian religion  and
(pagan?) science ?

(I note that some openly Christian astronomers and historians of science
have been trying to argue the opposite)

senebty

Mogg Morgan


> Jan. 26
>
> Dear Nick,
>
> Many thanks for your fast reply.
>
> Obviously, I agree with you.
>
> I know well Christian polemics against Greco-Roman pagans and vice versa.   I wonder what our experts, whose academic credentials are obscure, think of Justin Martyr, who was beheaded by Rome for his polemics against pagan philosophers.
>
> It does not take a specialist to be aware of divisions within the "European" realm.    Since, as you note, "Abrahamic" includes Islam, what do our authorities make of the Crusades?   An intra-mural squabble?   What do they make of religious persecutions throughout the history of "Europe"?   What of the conflict between religion and science?  What of philosophical conflicts--for example, between materialism and idealism?
>
> Yes, the list could be most useful if it were scholarly.   I especially like the publicizing of publications and of conferences that might otherwise pass me by.    And subscribers who ask for references or other guides--this is what the list should be doing.
>
>
> Best,


The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.



The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.