The futurology of cosmism in the light of science fiction: the experience of V. Muravyov and A. Gorsky

The article is the first part of the study of the features of philosophical and artistic futurology in Russian cosmism of the 1920s - 1930s. The key principles of the approach to the topic of the future in the religious/philosophical and natural/scientific branches of Russian cosmism are revealed: a projective worldview, the unity of futurology and anthropology, the will to idealism, designing the future as a perfect world order, unity of purpose and means, the personal principle of the relationship betweennature and man, the idea of the need to improve the external world, and human nature. The article demonstrates how these principles manifest themselves in the artistic and philosophical experiments of A. K. Gorsky and V. N. Muravyov in the 1920s and 1930s. It investigates the role of the science fiction element in their texts, in which, on the one hand, an integral image of the future is presented as the basis of mankind’s collective activity, and on the other hand, it offers a critique of “fractional ideals” in history, and flawed versions of the future. It demonstrates how the introduction of science fiction plots and motifs contributes to the test of futurological ideals for strength.