project 35/

RESURRECTION OF ALL THE DEAD

(according to V. Fyodorov)

V. Fyodorov, Philosopher. Moscow

According to the idea of the Russian philosopher of the end of the XIX century V. Fyodorov, the only worthy goal of a living person can be the resurrection of all the people who have died in the past. The people living today bear ineffaceable guilt before those who have died in the past, and this guilt will not disap- pear until the time when all the dead people, to the very last one, have been resurrected.

In this project death is understood as something that shouldn't be, as something which delivers misery and injustice to all of humanity, which can be overcome if all of those living concen- trate all of their efforts on it.

This theory was given the name "The Philosophy of the Common Cause" and received widespread notice in philosophical and intel- lectual circles of Russian society of that time (the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century).

This name, so it seems, provides a clue for understanding the idea and majesty of this project. Russian thought has always revolved around searches for ideas of a common meaning of life for all humanity, as a unified whole, of that one great idea around which all of humanity could rally and in its execution it (humanity) consisting of individual people could see itself as a single, living, whole organism.

The entire matter, according to this idea, would consist in finding that universal goal which, once revealed, would be accepted by people as a continual project for realization. This would be, from then on, their "common cause," and this goal, according to the thinking of V. Fyodorov, is the only thing capa- ble of becoming the main meaning of existence for all of humani- ty: the resurrection of all the dead.

RESURRECTION OF ALL THE DEAD

(according to V. Fyodorov) 1. Build a metal frame-table 150 x 80 x 110 cm and cover it with plywood.

2. Make a plastic case 150 x 40 x 80 cm and place it on the "table'', having first scattered earth into it up to a height of 10-13 cm so that from above it has the appear- ance of a hilly surface.

5. Make 40-50 "little white men." For this purpose, cut out 100 pieces from paper like the those drawn below. Then, having placed a thin wire in the middle, glue both pieces together so that the wire protrudes 2 cm lower than the "feet" of the "little white man."

4. Vertically stick the "little white men" into the ground, arranging them in an arbitrary order over the entire sur- face and in such a way that they touch the ground only with their feet, not sinking into it.