What Was Man Created For? The Philosophy of the Common Task

by Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov

Taken from the The Philosophy of the Common Task and Essays, this is a selection of the writings of the Russian mystic philosopher who had an influence on such contemporaries as Tolstoy and Solov'ev. His ideas, once thought far-fetched, are now found to have been prophetic. He lived at a time of intense intellectual controversy, artistic creativity and scientific development in Russia, while at the same time, there was growing world-wide militarism, civic strife and labour unrest. Fedorov was deeply distressed by this state of discord and looked for a means to develop brotherly feeling and ways to divert human energies from war towards dealing more effectively with such natural disasters as floods, droughts, earthquakes and hurricanes.

Genres: Philosophy, Russia, Religion, Nonfiction, History, Russian Literature

267 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1906

About the author

Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (Russian: Никола́й Фёдорович Фёдоров; surname also Anglicized as "Fedorov", June 9, 1829 – December 28, 1903) was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, who was part of the Russian cosmism movement and a precursor of transhumanism. Fyodorov advocated radical life extension, physical immortality and even resurrection of the dead, using scientific methods.

Fyodorov's parents were the (noble) Pavel Ivanovich Gagarin and Elisaveta Ivanova, a woman of lower-class nobility.

He studied at the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa. From 1854 to 1868, he served as a teacher in various small Russian towns. In 1878, he joined the Rumyantsev Museum staff as a librarian. Fyodorov opposed the idea of property of books and ideas and never published anything during his lifetime. His selected articles were printed posthumously with the title Philosophy of the Common Task (also known as Philosophy of Physical Resurrection).

Fyodorov was a futurist, who theorized about the eventual perfection of the human race and society (i.e., utopia), including radical ideas like immortality, revival of the dead, space and ocean colonization. His writings greatly influenced mystic Peter Uspensky. He also had direct contact with early rocket theorist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who visited the library where he worked over a 3-year period. He was also known to Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Leo Tolstoy had the highest opinion of Fyodorov. They were quite friendly, and shared many ideas in the 1880s and early 90s. But Fyodorov refused to see Tolstoy again after 1892, because of their ideological differences. That was the time of some food shortages in Russia because of poor harvest. Tolstoy published in the London Daily Telegraph an article accusing the Russian government of not doing enough for the peasants, which displeased many Russian conservatives.

While Fyodorov shared with Tolstoy many religious ideas, he was also a church-going Christian who cared very much for the Orthodox ritual observance. This was also a big stumbling block between them.

Reviews

[Felix Delong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fedorov is absolutely, right. A visionary. A way ahead of his time. The philosophy of common goal is the only path forward for humanity other than obliteration. Although the style is a bit dated and the Christian perspective is not really my cup of tea I feel a deep connection to the man. I just wish more people were thinking like this.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see why SF authors name check Fedorov now. This is the good kind of crazy.

[Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little inaccessible to me just because I know nothing about theology, but I still found it pretty engaging

[Невен Паштар · Rating 5 out of 5]

Идеја (програм) Фјодорова је истински јединствена...Али, што рече Г. Флоровски: он је "пре свега својеглав него смео мислиоц." Због својеглавости 5.
Мада, има ту доста конфузије и понављања казаног...