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Zusatztext This amasingly well-written book allows the reader a rare glimpse behind the curtain and see the crystal-clear clarity that it offers on essential questions of Russian philosophy. Informationen zum Autor George M. Young is a Fellow at The Center for Global Humanities at the University of New England. Klappentext The nineteenth and early twentieth century saw the emergence of a controversial school of Russian thinkers, led by the philosopher Nikolai Fedorov and united in the conviction that humanity was entering a new stage of evolution in which it must assume a new, active, managerial role in the cosmos. In the first account in English of this fascinating tradition, George M. Young offers a dynamic and wide-ranging examination of the lives and ideas of the Russian Cosmists. Suppressed during the Soviet period and little noticed in the West, the ideas of the Cosmists have in recent decades been rediscovered and embraced by many Russian intellectuals and are now recognized as essential to a native Russian cultural and intellectual tradition. Although they were scientists, theologians, and philosophers, the Cosmists addressed topics traditionally confined to occult and esoteric literature. Major themes include the indefinite extension of the human life span to establish universal immortality; the restoration of life to the dead; the reconstitution of the human organism to enable future generations to live beyond earth; the regulation of nature to bring all manifestations of blind natural force under rational human control; the transition of our biosphere into a "noosphere," with a sheath of mental activity surrounding the planet; the effect of cosmic rays and currently unrecognized particles of energy on human history; practical steps toward the reversal and eventual human control over the flow of time; and the virtues of human androgyny, autotrophy, and invisibility. The Russian Cosmists is a crucial contribution to scholarship concerning Russian intellectual history, the future of technology, and the history of western esotericism. Zusammenfassung In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a controversial school of Russian thinkers emerged, convinced that humanity was entering an advanced stage of evolution and must assume a new, active, managerial role in the cosmos. In the first account in English of this fascinating school, George M. Young offers a dynamic and wide-ranging examination of the lives and ideas of the Russian Cosmists. Although they wrote as scientists, theologians, and philosophers, Young shows that the Cosmists addressed topics traditionally confined to occult and esoteric literature. Their writings explored the extension of the human life span to establish universal immortality; the restoration of life to the dead; the regulation of nature so that all manifestations of blind natural force were under rational human control; the effect of cosmic rays and other particles of energy on human history; and practical steps toward eventual human control over the flow of time. Suppressed during the Soviet period and little noticed in the West, the ideas of the Cosmists have in recent decades been rediscovered and embraced by many Russian intellectuals. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface Chapter 1: The Spiritual Geography of Russian Cosmism Chapter 2: Forerunners of Russian Cosmism Chapter 3: The Russian Philosophical Context Chapter 4: The Religious and Spiritual Context Chapter 5: The Russian Esoteric Context Chapter 6: Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (1829-1903), the Philosopher of the Common Task Chapter 7: The ''Common Task'' Chapter 8: The Religious Cosmists Chapter 9: The Scientific Cosmists Chapter 10: Promethean Theurgy Chapter 11: Fedorov's Twentieth-Century Followers Chapter 12: Cosmism Today Notes Bibliography Index ...
