kosmismi

Kosmismi, or cosmism, is a broad Russian philosophical and cultural movement that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It fused metaphysics, theology, science, and technological optimism with a shared conviction that humanity has a cosmic destiny. Central to cosmist thought is the idea that human beings should overcome mortality and, eventually, resurrect all people who have died, through collective scientific and philanthropic effort. This “common task” (obshcheye zadanie) links ethical responsibility to scientific progress and social organization.

A key impulse of cosmism is the belief that humanity’s future lies beyond Earth. Early cosmist writers argued that space exploration and the settlement of other worlds are moral imperatives rooted in the unity of humankind and the desire to overcome earthly limits. The movement also emphasizes synthesis of science with religious and spiritual dimensions, treating cosmic expansion as part of a religiously meaningful human vocation rather than a purely technical project.

Notable figures associated with cosmism include Nikolai Fyodorov, who articulated the resurrection and immortality program; and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose pioneering rocket science and spaceflight visions framed space exploration as a collective human enterprise. Vladimir Vernadsky’s concept of the noosphere—an emergent layer of human thought shaping the biosphere—is often linked to cosmism, highlighting the idea that consciousness and science transform the Earth and beyond.

Cosmism influenced later ideas in transhumanism and space-faring imagination, and it remains a reference point in discussions about the philosophical and spiritual dimensions of space exploration. It is not a single coherent doctrine but a looser constellation of related theses about immortality, resurrection, science, and humanity’s place in the cosmos.