This sounds like a quasi-Gnosticism: the human body is lower and human rationality is higher; the lower as inhibiting the higher; the best for humans is to transcend their bodies by some means (albeit un-stated in TFA). It is a tempting view, if only because the human body seems frail in comparison to rationality.
It is a QUASI-Gnosticism, because it is a form of rationalism, which is incompatible with Gnosticism; Gnostics valued knowledge as a means, not as an end; they wanted to transcend every aspect of the human body, which includes the rational faculties.
Lovecraft certainly isn't a Gnostic, since total transcendance of the physical world would include (as stated above) transcendance of his cherished rationality. And Lovecraft isn't a quasi-Gnostic: his pessimism is paramount to his stories; do any of his characters ever escape the horrors of his stories? Gnosticism and Xenohumanist's quasi-Gnosticism/xeno-humanism are both fundamentally optimistic; the promise of transcendance is allegedly possible for anyone who acquires relevant secrets (in Gnosticism) or uses the relevant means (in xeno-humanism). I doubt that Lovecraft had room in his heart for such optimism; that would require him to be open to the possibility of the transcendance of Irishmen and blacks.
Some people really need to get out more :)
This sounds like a quasi-Gnosticism: the human body is lower and human rationality is higher; the lower as inhibiting the higher; the best for humans is to transcend their bodies by some means (albeit un-stated in TFA). It is a tempting view, if only because the human body seems frail in comparison to rationality.
It is a QUASI-Gnosticism, because it is a form of rationalism, which is incompatible with Gnosticism; Gnostics valued knowledge as a means, not as an end; they wanted to transcend every aspect of the human body, which includes the rational faculties.
Lovecraft certainly isn't a Gnostic, since total transcendance of the physical world would include (as stated above) transcendance of his cherished rationality. And Lovecraft isn't a quasi-Gnostic: his pessimism is paramount to his stories; do any of his characters ever escape the horrors of his stories? Gnosticism and Xenohumanist's quasi-Gnosticism/xeno-humanism are both fundamentally optimistic; the promise of transcendance is allegedly possible for anyone who acquires relevant secrets (in Gnosticism) or uses the relevant means (in xeno-humanism). I doubt that Lovecraft had room in his heart for such optimism; that would require him to be open to the possibility of the transcendance of Irishmen and blacks.