Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (; 9 June 1829 – 28 December 1903), known in his family as Nikolai Pavlovich Gagarin, was a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Christian Church, but was never a clergyman. Fyodorov was a philosopher, religious thinker and futurologist, library science figure and an innovative educator. He started the movement of Russian cosmism which was a precursor of transhumanism.
Fyodorov advocated radical life extension, physical immortality and even resurrection of the dead, using scientific methods.
He was called the "Socrates of Moscow." His ideas influenced a diverse group of people, from early rocket scientists like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky to artists and composers, including Alexander Scriabin. He dreamed of resurrecting people, not wanting to be reconciled to the death of even one person. With the help of science, he intended to gather scattered molecules and atoms to "put them into the bodies of the fathers".
Fyodorov gave science a place next to art and religion in the Common Task of uniting humanity, including the dead, who must in the future be reunited with the living. He held that "we can become immortal and godlike through rational efforts and that our moral obligation is to create a heaven to be shared by all who ever lived."
Biography
He was born on 26 May (7 June) 1829 in the village of , Tambov Province (now Sasovsky District, Ryazan Oblast, Russia). As the illegitimate son of Prince Pavel Ivanovich Gagarin (1798–1872) he received the surname of his godfather.
It is known that he also had an older brother, Alexander (with whom he was brought up and educated together until 1851) and three sisters.
His mother was Elisaveta Ivanova Makarova, a woman from the minor Russian nobility.
In 1836 he was admitted to the district school, in 1842 in the ,
In 1854 he received a teacher's certificate in the Tambov gymnasium and was appointed teacher of history and geography at the Lipetsk district school.
From October 1858 he taught at the Borovsky School in Tambov Province. Then he moved to Bogorodsk Moscow province and soon to Uglich Yaroslavl province, from where he went to Odoev, then to Bogoroditsk Tula province.
From November 1866 to April 1869 N. F. Fedorov taught at Borovsky district school. At this time he became acquainted with , one of the teachers at Leo Tolstoy's school in Yasnaya Polyana. Because of his acquaintance with Peterson, he was arrested in the Dmitry Karakozov case, but was released three weeks later.
From July 1867 to April 1869 he gave private lessons in Moscow, to Mikhailovsky's children.
In 1869 he got a job as assistant librarian in , and from 1874 for 25 years he worked as a librarian of the Rumyantsev Museum, in the last years of his life – in the reading room of the of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the Rumyantsev Museum Fyodorov was the first to compile a systematic catalog of books. There after three o'clock in the afternoon (closing time of the museum) and on Sundays there was a discussion club, which was attended by many prominent contemporaries.
Fyodorov led an ascetic life, tried not to own any property, gave away most of his salary to his "fellows," refused increases in salary, and always walked.
Fedorov refused to be photographed and would not allow his portrait to be painted. One image of Fedorov was made secretly by Leonid Pasternak; another was made in 1902 by the artist Sergei Korovin, apparently in absentia.
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).
He died in the winter of 1903 of pneumonia in a shelter for the poor. He was buried in the cemetery of the .
In 1930 as a part of the his grave and all other graves in the monastery were destroyed by the Soviet Union.
Philosophy
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.
He was an adamant defender of universalism and wanted universal rather than particular immortality and resurrection through something he called the common task of humanity. He was a strong advocate of ancestor worship and saw people's genealogical and social relationships as reflecting their value and was critical of individualism as making people expendable. For him, the Common Task meant "to regulate the forces of nature, to defeat death and bring ancestors back to life, so that they too would participate in the general resurrection." This ideas was so central to his philosophy that "whatever topic he wrote about, Fedorov brought in his main idea of the Common Task—how to achieve universal brotherhood, rationalise nature instead of merely exploiting her bounties, overcome death, resurrect the ancestors and create a united humanity worthy of governing the universe."
Fyodorov argued that evolutionary process was directed towards increased intelligence and its role in the development of life. Humanity is the culmination of evolution, as well as its creator and director. Humans must therefore direct evolution where their reason and morality dictate. Fyodorov also argued that mortality is the most obvious indicator of the still imperfect, contradictory nature of humanity and the underlying reason for most evil and nihilism of humankind. Fyodorov stated that the struggle against death can become the most natural cause uniting all people of Earth, regardless of their nationality, race, citizenship or wealth (he called this the Common Task).
Fyodorov thought that death and afterdeath existence should become the subject of comprehensive scientific inquiry, that achieving immortality and revival is the greatest goal of science, and that this knowledge must leave the laboratories and become the common property of all: "Everyone must be learning and everything be the subject of knowledge and action".
Renewable energy and ecological engineering
Fyodorov was an advocate of climate engineering. He praised an 1891 Russian military experiment in cloud seeding using explosives in response to the Russian famine of 1891–1892. Fyodorov argued that this could transform humanity as militaries could be directed towards a Common Task rather than violence. He described cloud seeding as being analogous to irrigation for sky rivers, and that the proper Christian way was to do this redirection, and objections on the basis of this going against the will of God were foolish.
Fyodorov argued that adoption of renewable energy was a moral obligation, to stop workers from being exploited in mining. He particularly mentioned iron and coal mining, and taking energy from solar power and wind power. Fyodorov said that Man does not live in harmony with nature but that this is a common urban delusion brought about by lack of contact with nature.
Two reasons for death
Human life, emphasized Fyodorov, dies for two reasons. First is internal: due to the material organization of a human, his or her functionality is incapable of infinite self-renewal. To overcome this, psychophysiological regulation of human organisms is needed. The second reason is the unpredictable nature of the external environment; its destructive character must be overcome with the regulation of nature. Regulation of nature, "introducing will and reason into nature" includes, according to Fyodorov, prevention of natural disasters, control of Earth's climate, fight against viruses and epidemics, mastery of solar power, space exploration and unlimited creative work there.
Immortality for all
Achieving immortality and resurrection of all people who ever lived are two inseparable goals, according to Fyodorov. Immortality is impossible, both ethically and physically, without resurrection. We cannot allow our ancestors, who gave us life and culture, to remain buried, or our relatives and friends to die. Achieving immortality for individuals alive today and future generations is only a partial victory over death – only the first stage. The complete victory will be achieved only when everyone is resurrected and transformed to enjoy immortal life.
Ancestor veneration
He was an advocate for veneration of the dead and saw it as being the foundation of true religion, likewise he saw people who identified as individuals independent of their ancestors as being easily manipulated by outside forces
He criticized socialism on the basis that it was based on material benefits of association of replaceable individuals in contrast with his system of resurrection where by contrast all people based on their familial links were irreplaceable.
As an extension of this ancestor focus Fyodorov saw great issue with the decline of graveyards connected to churches in favor of standalone cemeteries and advocated making graveyards in universities. As such he argued against social specialization in favor of a society of generalists who each pursued all things. Likewise he argued that making everyone a scholar would lead to a reduction in addiction and other forms of escapism such as hypnotism as people would be more connected to the world itself. Constrained to artificial toy sized experiments and a childishness of knowledge.
Opposition to nationalism
Fyodorov opposed nationalism citing it as replacing loyalty the land of one's fathers with pride in their achievements, pride being a sin and love being a virtue
Sexual relationships
He also argued that sexual relationships led to men being attached to women and alienated from their ancestors, potentially introducing strife into the world.
He believed universal compulsory education must occur before marriage so people could decide whether they wanted to get married.
Aliens
Fyodorov contemplated the existence of extraterrestrial life but came to the conclusion if they did exist they did not participate in the common project of resurrection, and this may explain their seeming absence. This may be seen as an early proposed solution to the Fermi paradox.
Contemporaries about Fyodorov
In the 1870s, while working as a librarian, Fyodorov was acquainted with K. E. Tsiolkovsky