Theos-Talk Archives (November 2001 Message tt00143)

Regarding Daniel's posting about the History of Theosophy wbesite I would 
have to ask two additional questions of Brigitte Muehlegger:

1. If plagiarism is worthy of criticism in the case of Madame Blavatsky 
(assuming that she did plagiarize), how does Ms Muehlegger justify the 
plagiarism (without acknowledgement, without permission and against 
specific direction not to use) of whole sections of Dr Brendan French's 
doctoral thesis in articles for which she claims authorship? If theft is 
theft in one case, why is it not theft in another?

2. If the web site previously controlled/operated by Ms Muehlegger is now 
nothing to do with her, but is under the editorship of Dr. Raphael 
Vishanu, how is it that the articles attributed to the editor (previously 
Ms Muehlegger and now, apparently, Dr. Vishanu) remain unchanged and are 
identical with each other? Has Dr. Vishanu plagiarized the entire text of 
all the articles by Ms Muehlegger? has he, somehow (one would be 
fascinated to read the explanation!) written a series of articles on the 
same topics, with the same titles and with identical texts (including the 
same plagiarisms from Dr French) entirely by coincidence? If this is the 
explanation, will an account of this extraordinary - indeed, supernatural 
- event be published in the next edition of the "Guinness Book of 
Records"?

These are questions, incidentally, to which the University of Vienna (on 
to whose wbesite the original Muehlegger History of Theosophy site was 
attached) may now be addressing its attention as it consider its legal 
position in the wake of Ms Muehlegger's actions.

Dr Gregory Tillett