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Russian cosmism

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Russian cosmism

Russian cosmism (Russian: Русский космизм), or simply cosmism, is a philosophical and cultural movement that emerged in late 19th- and early 20th-century Russia, integrating science, religion, and metaphysics into a unified worldview. It is characterized by the belief in humanity’s cosmic destiny, the potential for immortality, and the use of scientific and technological advancements to achieve control over nature and explore space.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a burst of scientific investigation into interplanetary travel, largely driven by fiction writers such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, which would influence philosophical movements like Russian cosmism.[citation needed] The movement was also influenced by Eastern Orthodox thought, Russian philosophy, and advancements in natural sciences. Key figures in Russian cosmism include Nikolai Fedorov, who advocated for the abolition of death and resurrection of ancestors through scientific means; and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose work in astronautics and space travel laid the foundations for modern cosmonautics. Other notable thinkers, such as Vladimir Vernadsky and Alexander Chizhevsky, contributed ideas on the noosphere, biosphere, and cosmic influences on human life.

Although suppressed during the Soviet era, cosmism influenced Soviet space exploration, transhumanism, and later philosophical movements. In the 21st century, Russian cosmism has gained renewed interest, particularly in discussions on space colonization, technological immortality, and the role of humanity in the universe.[citation needed]

Cosmism entailed a broad theory of natural philosophy, combining elements of religion and ethics with a history and philosophy of the origin, evolution, and future existence of the cosmos and humankind. It combined elements from both Eastern and Western philosophic traditions as well as from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Culture of Health is the basic science about Spiritual Humanity. It studies the perspectives of harmonious development of Spiritual man and Spiritual ethnos as a conscious creator of the State of Light into the territory of the Solar System

Cosmism was one of the influences on Proletkult, and after the October Revolution, the term came to be applied to "...the poetry of such writers as Mikhail Gerasimov and Vladimir Kirillov...: emotional paeans to physical labor, machines, and the collective of industrial workers ... organized around the image of the universal 'Proletarian', who strides forth from the earth to conquer planets and stars." This form of cosmism, along with the writings of Nikolai Fyodorov, was a strong influence on Andrei Platonov.

Many ideas of the Russian cosmists were later developed by those in the transhumanist movement. Victor Skumin argues that the Culture of Health will play an important role in the creation of a human spiritual society into the Solar System.

Russian cosmism can be divided into two categories: scientific and philosophical. While the scientific branch is naturalistic, the philosophical branch is mystical and metaphysical, yet both branches are inherently spiritual. This is particularly evident among early Russian cosmists who followed in the footsteps of spiritual thinkers like Fyodorov and Solovyov. For a more nuanced categorization, there is often a third category mentioned by scholars: the artistic branch.

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