The concept of Russian cosmism by Boris Groys

Russian cosmism occupies a significant place in Boris Groys’ concept of modern culture. In Groys’s concept, European culture before its transformation in the Age of Enlightenment appears Platonic-Christian. Groys believes that in the Age of Enlightenment and especially after Nietzsche, a holistic metaphysical position, realizable through metanoia, became impossible. In Groys’s concept of modern culture, the role of N. F. Fedorov is important, who, in his opinion, was the first to raise the question of the need to achieve bodily immortality in the world around us. In his interpretation of Russian cosmism, Groys relies on the concept of biopower and the concept of heterotopia by M. Foucault. Groys mistakenly associates Russian cosmism with рrometheistic hopes for the complete technical transformation of everything natural and the achievement of personal immortality. For the concepts of cosmists, which can be successfully interpreted in the paradigm of biopower of M. Foucault, the article introduces the concept of "reductionist cosmism". It is no coincidence that Groys does not include in his analysis of the concepts of the cosmists the work of V. I. Vernadsky "Biosphere", which shows the role of cosmic radiation in the functioning of living organisms. In his analysis of the art of Russian cosmists, Groys avoids the group of artists "Amaravella", who sought to convey the multilevel nature of a living developing cosmos with their work. Groys’s postmodern concept is based on numerous associations that replace causal explanations.