Cosmism emerged in Russia before the October Revolution and developed through the 1920s and 1930s; like Marxism and the European avant-garde, two other movements that shared this intellectual moment, Russian Cosmism rejected the contemplative for the transformative, aiming to create not merely new art or philosophy but a new world. Cosmism went the furthest in its visions of transformation, calling for the end of death, the resuscitation of the dead, and free movement in cosmic space.
Cosmism was developed by the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov in the late nineteenth century; he believed that humans had an ethical obligation not only to care for the sick but to cure death using science and technology; outer space was the territory of both immortal life and infinite resources. After the revolution, a new generation pursued Fedorov's vision. Cosmist ideas inspired visual artists, poets, filmmakers, theater directors, novelists (Tolstoy and Dostoevsky read Fedorov's writings), architects, and composers, and influenced Soviet politics and technology. In the 1930s, Stalin quashed Cosmism, jailing or executing many members of the movement.
Today, when the philosophical imagination has again become entangled with scientific and technological imagination, the works of the Russian Cosmists seem newly relevant.
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Intriguing ideas although very much in the realms of science fiction.
It's tragic that Stalin was so brutal towards it, but he was brutal to anyone and anything that frightened him and did not fit his imagined "socialist realism". In this case though, ideas that influenced fellow-politicians would be particularly worry the increasingly paranoid dictator.
The idea that death can be "cured" may seem attractive but raises some very awkward questions, and should be considered alongside the point that all organisms, certainly multi-cellular ones, have finite lives.
The more we learn about Outer Space and other planets, the less attractive as potential colonies they are! Even outside of ideas like Cosmism, some do talk of "colonising" Mars, or at least manned scientific expeditions there, but would anyone really want to go to this cold desert with no breathable atmosphere and not much water? How would they be supported there, and how would they return? And Mars is our nearest and only planet that might theoretically be possible for human visits.
Cosmism looks rather like a mixture of religion without a deity, abstract philosophy without too much logic, and science without thought. Interesting to know about, harmless enough in its own way; but not presenting serious proposals for humanity's future.
@ArishMell Thanks for your comment! I agree with you in regards to curing death. I think it's neither possible nor desireable.
I have a deep love for space and the universe therefore I do hope we advance into the unknown and especially with the exploitation of our planet in mind a trip to space sounds wonderful to me. I welcome new advancements in space travel and would love to see colonies. I won't live to see it but a girl can dream.
It's pretty much how you describe it. A religion without a higher power, a philosophy that focuses more on hopes and dreams than on logic and the aim for scientific progress and exploration at it's core. I personally believe in it.
@Gloomy Space travel is expensive. You think it is ethical to spend so much money when people have needs on earth? I was always a bit shocked to hear about millions of dollars spent on traveling when we could feed people or advance mass travel on earth that is more efficient, cheaper, and environmentally friendlier than cars.
@Carazaa I take your point but there is another ethical side to things like Elon Musk talking wildly of manned flights even to Mars - which is as uninhabitable as the Moon. (It is a very cold desert with lethally thin, largely anoxic, atmosphere.)
That is, how would they come home? [i]Could[/i] they come home?
Regarding food and travel, I think the former more important, but the looming problem along with that is going to be widespread shortages of water for agriculture, health and drinking; affecting almost all parts of the world.
@ArishMell Since Jesus told us he will create a new heaven and a new earth when we see these signs, we will be ok as long as we trust him. Sadly most people don't!
@Carazaa People either don't trust religious figures or take a fatalist view of them because humanity has religious since time immemorial, in all manner of faiths and sects, with no sign of them working, while "will create..." means nothing unless if it comes with no sign of when.
It's practical steps we need, [i]across all faiths and none[/i], not merely rely on mysticism and one character, however comforting that may be.
The world is not just Christian, and if you are of some other religion or none at all, your own beliefs still true to you but Jesus does not mean much to you.
Nor can you trust a religion that promises a new beginning but has no idea in what way, how and when.
@Carazaa I know you do. That's fine - but do please remember many other people find their spiritual paths through other faiths, or none, they find just as trustworthy as yours.
@Carazaa Well, yes, that's your belief but you do know that other faiths even exist, and are just as valid for their own followers as yours is for you. Do you not accept that?
