Abstract
In the secondary literature on Scriabin, it is not uncommon to come across the names of philosophers such as Nikolai Fyodorov, Vladimir Solovyov, and Nikolai Berdyaev. The present paper examines the shared characteristics between Scriabin’s philosophy and the ideas of such figures who are typically referred to as Russian Cosmists. In doing so, the paper illustrates what new insights we can gain by considering Scriabin from the perspective of Russian Cosmism. Despite the overwhelming evidence of Russian Cosmists’ significant influence on Scriabin’s philosophical ideas, the secondary literature rarely discusses this impact within the context of Russian Cosmism. The aim of the present paper is to remedy this oversight by (a) concisely defining what Russian Cosmism is, and (b) illustrating how Scriabin’s philosophy can be traced to Russian Cosmist ideas which were circulating in Russia when Scriabin was intellectually and artistically active.
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Notes
In this regard, it might be worth mentioning that Vladimir Solovyov, whom George M. Young describes as the “great philosopher who inspired Russia’s ‘Silver Age’ of literature and art” (see Young 2012, p. 10), was a vocal critic of positivism. It is perhaps revealing that the subtitle of his 1874 book, The Crisis of Western Philosophy, is Against the Positivists. I mention Solovyov here because his name will frequently appear in this paper.
Throughout this paper, the word “flight” is used to refer to such an intention of ascent.
For clarification: by “technology” I specifically mean “scientific technology.” In a broader sense, even the piano, for which most of Scriabin’s compositions were written, can be viewed as an advanced technology he employed to realize his ideas. However, any technology Scriabin used or considered using was in service of an artistic vision, not a scientific one.
A notable exception is Nikolai Berdyaev, who, in George M. Young’s words, “believed that any philosophical roadmap proposed would limit rather than encourage freedom. He did not want his thoughts ever to harden into a new dogma, a new closed system, or any intellectual equivalent of death” (Young 2012, p. 137). Berdyaev was the most existential figure in Russian Cosmism, and I believe his refusal to offer his audience a philosophical roadmap was thanks to the influence of existentialist philosophy on him.
It is important to note that, as with many aspects of Russian Cosmism, such distinctions are not absolute. One might simply divide the movement into two categories: natural-scientific and religious-philosophical (see Gacheva 2019, p. 3). However, given this paper’s particular focus on Scriabin’s work, it accepts the “artist” category for its contextual relevance.
As mentioned in this paper, “Russian Cosmism” is a term retrospectively used by scholars in the latter half of the twentieth century to categorize figures with certain shared traits. Unlike Theosophy, a self-conscious movement, whose members identified as part of it, Russian Cosmism was not recognized as a distinct movement at the time. Pointing out this distinction is crucial to prevent readers from equating Russian Cosmism’s status with that of an established religious movement, such as Theosophy. When I say “art and artists held a significant position in the Russian Cosmism,” I mean that, upon retrospective analysis, an aesthetic sensibility can be detected in figures associated with Russian Cosmism.
For clarity’s sake, it is worth emphasizing my consistent usage of “Silver Age” and “Russian Cosmism” throughout this paper. While the Silver Age signifies a broader cultural spectrum of the era under discussion, the Russian Cosmism represents a distinct facet within the Silver Age, characterized by more specific traits. To elucidate further, every Russian Cosmist referenced in this paper is situated within the Silver Age (or is regarded as a pivotal inspiration for that era); however, not every figure of the Silver Age can be classified as a Russian Cosmist. For example, although I recognize Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Konstantin Balmont as figures of the Silver Age, I would not classify them as Russian Cosmists.
It is essential to emphasize that the Soviets’ political motivations and agendas are not being dismissed by the author of this paper. My focus is on the spiritual undertone that culminated in the realization of a deeply-rooted vision. This is not to say that every individual involved in the Sputnik programme shared the spiritual goals of the early Russian Cosmists or self-identified as a Cosmist. Rather, it suggests that the aspirations of Russian Cosmists influenced the national psyche in such a way that it culminated in the launch of Sputnik. It is a well-known fact that Fyodorov’s protégé, Tsiolkovsky, did build wooden model rockets and “wrote the papers that would eventually lay the foundation for the 1957 launching of Sputnik I” (see Young 2012, p. 149). Here, I am setting aside any speculative science fiction of the West. Unlike Russian Cosmists, writers like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, as far as I am aware, never conveyed any sense of urgency by calling an entire nation to action; in other words, they did not move beyond mere fascination. It is important to underscore that Russian Cosmism is not synonymous with science fiction, and its proponents were actively working to make their visions a reality.
In this context, I am reminded of Schumann, who also set his own poems to music. While his poetry, when compared to the works of Heine and Goethe, may not be deemed ingenious, labeling his poems as “bad poetry” entirely misses the point. The poems should be evaluated based on their impact within the appropriate context—which, in Schumann’s case, means in combination with music to evoke a specific emotional response in the listener.
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Yansori, A. Alexander Scriabin as a Russian Cosmist. Stud East Eur Thought (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-023-09590-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-023-09590-6