The future of mankind… This topic has always been considered with great interest within both Eastern and European philosophical traditions. But in the second half of the 20th century, the emphasis shifted sharply: a person began not only to dream of a wonderful future, but also to look for the best ways to achieve it. And on this path, he had a natural 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 us to give an affirmative answer. Understanding the difficulties in the relationship between nature and man, as well as relationships between people, has acquired the greatest relevance. Through the discussion of these issues, several traditions have developed. Cosmism in Russian philosophy is one of them. We will talk about it in this article.
Definition
The name "Russian cosmism" arose in the 60s, when the people rejoiced violently about space exploration and appeal to the practically forgotten legacy of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Then it covered a wide areaRussian culture of the late 19th - early 20th century. Its most prominent representatives were: in poetry - Bryusov, Tyutchev; in music - Scriabin; in painting - Nesterov. And the philosophical direction was formed around the ideas of K. E. Tsiolkovsky (who 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 for the development of mankind. Of course, due to the way of life and the style of thinking of the authors, their works are very different. But, despite this, they can find many common ideas that complement and develop each other and form a whole trend in Russian philosophy.
Main idea
Russian cosmism was the first to substantiate the idea of uniting all people, based not so much on political and ideological reasons as 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 of them, but there are only five main currents. We have already mentioned some of them above. Now we present you the full list:
- Natural science (Tsiolkovsky, Vernadsky, Chizhevsky).
- Religious-philosophical (Fedorov).
- Artistic and poetic (Morozov, Sukhovo-Kobylin, Bryusov, Odoevsky, Tyutchev).
- Esoteric (Roerich).
- Noospheric (Shipov, Akimov,Dmitriev).
Below we will talk about representatives of the first two directions.
The founder of cosmism
The founder of cosmism and its largest representative is Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. He never studied philosophy professionally. Fedorov earned his living first by teaching and then by working in the library. During the life of Nikolai Fedorovich, very few of his works were published. But even these publications were enough for many philosophers and writers to be able to admire his ideas. Particularly favorable reviews came from A. M. Gorky, F. M. Dostoevsky and L. N. Tolstoy.
Many ideas of Russian cosmism were formulated by Fedorov in his work "Philosophy of the Common Cause". He believed that the cause of disharmony in the relationship between nature and man lies in the disorder of the latter's life. And nature, because of its unconsciousness, acts as a hostile force. Only this force 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.
General regulation
Russian philosophy, Russian cosmism would be unthinkable without Fedorov's idea of universal regulation. It is necessary to bridge the gap between nature and man. At the same time, psychophysiological regulation implies the control of our inner strength. The outer one unfolds from ourplanets to the universe and covers several steps:
- Meteoric regulation (object - Earth).
- Planetary astroregulation (object - Solar system).
- Space (object - the Universe).
When passing these steps, humanity 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 safely called a genius.
Despite the utopian nature of many of Fedorov's theories, modern cosmism (Russian) professes many of the ideas of his heritage: the projectivity of knowledge and synthetism, the regulation of social life and natural processes, the close connection between morality and knowledge, the perpetuation of human life, etc.
Four principles of Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky had a significant influence on cosmism in Russian philosophy. He is known as an original thinker, science fiction writer and forerunner of astronautics and rocket dynamics.
Konstantin Eduardovich believed that our world can only be explained from a cosmic point of view. The future of the world is human space exploration. All our activities should focus on improving the interaction between space and man. The liberation of intelligent organisms from dependence on their environment is one of the main tasks of evolution. Konstantin Eduardovich thought that space exploration could unite people into an integral state.
There are a number of philosophical principles thatrelied on Tsiolkovsky. 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).
Vernadsky's Noosphere
Many ideas of Russian cosmism were formulated by Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky. He was not only an outstanding naturalist, but also a significant thinker, as well as the founder of the doctrine of the biosphere and its transition to the noosphere.
B. 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 human geological activity, and this will create a special state of the biosphere and prepare it for the transition to the noosphere." The latter was understood by the thinker as a sphere of expansion of the intelligent activity of people aimed at maintaining life on the planet within the biosphere, then in the circumsolar space and, as a result, already beyond it. According to V. I. Vernadsky, evolution itself prepared the entry of mankind into the era of the noosphere. And the main condition for this transition is the unification of creative conditions to improve the general level of people's well-being.
Solar activity of Chizhevsky
Russian philosophy, Russian cosmism received a significant impetus in development thanks to the work of Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky, which de alt with the impact of solar activity on the history of mankind.
The scientist believed that revolutionary upheavals occurred during periods of the greatest activity of the Sun. This phenomenon is repeated at intervals of 11 years. In turn, the eleven-year cycle consists of 4 periods:
- Minimal excitability (3 years).
- Growth in excitability (2 years).
- Maximum rise in excitability (3 years).
- Decreased excitability (3 years).
Chizhevsky's theories about the impact of solar storms on the behavior of specific people and social phenomena are still very widespread.
Conclusion
So, we have considered Russian cosmism as a philosophical direction. 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 through the stages of worldview formation, human civilization discovered new types of knowledge, creating new branches of philosophical views and sciences.
At the present stage, taking into account past experience, humanity has formed a clear structure for itself and identified the most useful priorities. But, as before, we have not received answers to questions about the meaning of life and the picture of the universe on the planet. And because a personwill always have a tendency to think, then there will always be riddles for which there will never be answers.
