The future of mankind ... This topic has always been considered with great interest in the framework of both Eastern and European philosophical traditions. But in the second half of the 20th century, emphasis shifted sharply: a person began not only to dream of a beautiful future, but also to look for optimal ways to achieve it. And on this path he had a logical question: “Is the future possible in principle?” The number of nuclear weapons on the planet and the likelihood of an environmental cataclysm do not allow an affirmative answer. The most urgent is the understanding of difficulties in the relationship between nature and man, as well as relations between people. Thanks to the discussion of these problems, several traditions have developed. Cosmism in Russian philosophy is one of them. We will talk about him in this article.
Definition
The name “Russian cosmism” arose in the 60s, when people were jubilantly rejoicing over the exploration of outer space and the appeal to K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s almost forgotten heritage. Then it embraced a wide area of Russian culture of the late 19th - early 20th century. His most prominent representatives were: in poetry - Bryusov, Tyutchev; in music - Scriabin; in painting - Nesterov. A philosophical trend was formed around the ideas of K. E. Tsiolkovsky (which was supported by such prominent scientists as V. I. Vernadsky and A. L. Chizhevsky) and the works of N. F. Fedorov.
First of all, cosmist philosophers reflected on the further prospects of the development of mankind. Of course, due to the lifestyle and thinking style of the authors, their work is very different. But, despite this, they can find many common ideas that complement and develop each other and form a whole direction in Russian philosophy.
main idea
Russian cosmism for the first time substantiated the idea of uniting all people, based not only on political and ideological reasons, but on moral and environmental ones. Thus, the most important feature of the philosophical direction was formed - the combination of such previously incompatible problems as the establishment of universal brotherhood, space exploration and the preservation of the environment.
Directions of Russian cosmism
There are several, but only five main trends. We have already mentioned some of them above. Now we will present you the full list:
- Natural Science (Tsiolkovsky, Vernadsky, Chizhevsky).
- Religious and philosophical (Fedorov).
- Artistic and poetic (Morozov, Sukhovo-Kobylin, Bryusov, Odoevsky, Tyutchev).
- Esoteric (Roerich).
- Noosphere (Shipov, Akimov, Dmitriev).
Below we will talk about representatives of the first two areas.
The founder of cosmism
The founder of cosmism and its largest representative is Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. He never studied philosophy professionally. Fedorov raised his livelihood by first teaching, and then working in the library. During the life of Nikolai Fedorovich, very few of his works were published. But these publications were enough for many philosophers and writers to admire his ideas. Particularly favorable reviews came from A. M. Gorky, F. M. Dostoevsky and L. N. Tolstoy.
Many of the ideas of Russian cosmism were formulated by Fedorov in his work Philosophy of the Common Affair. He believed that the reason for the disharmony in the relationship between nature and man lies in the disruption of the latter's life. And nature, because of its unconsciousness, acts as a hostile force. Only this power can be subdued with the help of the human mind. The philosopher believed that "people should bring harmony into the world and restore order in it." Thanks to this, the evolution of nature will turn from spontaneous to consciously regulated.
Universal regulation
Russian philosophy, Russian cosmism would be inconceivable without Fedorov’s idea of universal regulation. It is necessary to bridge the gap between nature and man. In this case, psychophysiological regulation involves the management of our internal strength. The outer one unfolds from our planet to the Universe and covers several stages:
- Meteoric regulation (object - Earth).
- Planetary astroregulation (object - Solar system).
- Cosmic (object - the Universe).
With the passage of these steps, mankind will be able to unite all existing star worlds. By the way, Russian cosmism as a philosophical trend was born precisely thanks to this idea. So Nikolai Fedorovich can be called a genius with confidence.
Despite the utopianism of many theories of Fedorov, modern cosmism (Russian) professes many ideas of his legacy: the projectivity of knowledge and synthetism, the regulation of social life and natural processes, the close connection of morality and knowledge, the perpetuation of human life, etc.
Four principles of Tsiolkovsky
A significant influence on cosmism in Russian philosophy was made by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. He is known as the original thinker, science fiction writer and forerunner of astronautics and rocket dynamics.
Konstantin Eduardovich believed that our world can be explained only from a cosmic point of view. The future of the world is space exploration by people. All our activities should focus on improving the interaction of space and man. The liberation of intelligent organisms from dependence in relation to their habitat is one of the main tasks of evolution. Konstantin Eduardovich thought that space exploration could unite people into a single state.
There are a number of philosophical principles on which Tsiolkovsky relied. Russian cosmism still professes them. There are four such principles. Consider them in order of importance:
- Panpsychism (recognition of the sensitivity of the universe).
- Monism (matter is one, and its properties are the same).
- The principle of infinity (the power of the cosmic mind and the Universe are infinite).
- The principle of self-organization (the Universe itself builds its own structure).
Noosphere of Vernadsky
Many ideas of Russian cosmism were formulated by Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky. He was not only an outstanding natural scientist, but also a significant thinker, as well as the founder of the doctrine of the biosphere and its transition into the noosphere.
V.I. Vernadsky and other representatives of such a trend as Russian cosmism believed that with the help of science, humanity would be able to subjugate the universe and become responsible for its fate. This can be explained by the fact that "scientific work will become a manifestation of the geological activity of man, and this will create a special state of the biosphere and prepare it for the transition to the noosphere." The thinker understood the latter as the sphere of expanding the rational activity of people aimed at maintaining life on the planet within the framework of the biosphere, then in the near-solar space and, as a result, already beyond it. According to V.I. Vernadsky, evolution itself prepared the entry of humanity into the era of the noosphere. And the main condition for this transition is the unification of creative conditions to increase the general level of human well-being.
Solar activity Chizhevsky
Russian philosophy, Russian cosmism received a significant impetus in development thanks to the work of Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky, which dealt with the influence of solar activity on the history of mankind.
The scientist believed that revolutionary upheavals occurred during periods of greatest activity of the sun. This phenomenon repeats with an interval of 11 years. In turn, the eleven-year cycle consists of 4 periods:
- Minimum excitability (3 years).
- Excitability growth (2 years).
- The maximum rise in excitability (3 years).
- Reduced excitability (3 years).
Chizhevsky’s theories about the influence of solar storms on the behavior of specific people and social phenomena are now very widespread.
Conclusion
So, we considered Russian cosmism as a philosophical trend. It should be noted that it took a man many hundreds of years to acquire a reasonable appearance along with a developed awareness of his own spirituality. Passing the stages of the formation of a worldview, human civilization opened up new types of knowledge, creating new branches of philosophical views and sciences.
At the present stage, taking into account past experience, mankind has formed a clear structure for itself and identified the most useful priorities. But, as before, we did not receive answers to questions about the meaning of life and the picture of the universe on the planet. And since a person will always have a tendency to think, there will always be puzzles for which there are no guesses.