Russian cosmism and transhumanism
I. Y. Alexandrov
Abstract
The article is devoted to the original phenomenon of Russian cosmism, which is a synthesis of general scientific, natural-scientifi c and cultural approaches to the study of the cosmoplanetary dimension of human. The purpose of this article is to show the alternative to transhumanism, which is contained in the legacy of Russian cosmists. The article shows the threats to humanity that the realization of the ideals of transhumanism can lead to. Culture is faced with a fundamental choice: either further development will go towards the study of human and his position in the biosphere, or a principled course will be taken towards the gradual technical replacement of the natural human body in order to create a cyborg. The article shows that Russian cosmism is fundamentally different from transhumanism by the presence of an ethical teaching, according to which new evolutionary abilities are conditioned by the spiritual and moral perfection of human. By reducing human consciousness to an electronic medium, transhumanism devalues the values of European culture. Along with bold dreams about the future evolutionary possibilities of human, Russian cosmism also contains research programs in which living matter on our planet is caused by various cosmic radiation. The philosophy of Russian cosmism by the scale of the vision of problems, relying on the idea of the cosmic nature of life and the «heart» as a special psychophysiological center of a human can contribute to solving the problem of «high touch» with the latest technologies.