Towards Alexander Gorsky’s three theses on psychoanalysis

The article deals with the original version of psychoanalysis by Alexander Gorsky (1886–1943), a philosopher of Russian cosmism. His psychoanalytic theory is considered in close connection with the teachings of Nikolai Fedorov. It is discovered that the general principle of Gorsky’s theory lies in resurrection as the main idea of Russian cosmism. Gorsky puts forward three theses about the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud: autoerotic mirroring, intracorporeal space and organ projection by Ernst Kapp. Gorsky’s theory of psychoanalysis is based on the positivistic premise that it is possible to see without eyes, with the help of receptors located in the skin. On this hypothesis, Gorsky builds his theory of the “phallic pupil,” in the center of which is the body, which not only sees by many phalluses, but also produces images that are not inferior to real ones. The most important figure here is the muse, the virgin, the woman.

Gorsky’s psychoanalytic theory is placed in the general context of psychoanalytic discourse and contemporary thought about sexuality. The general mimetic origins of the theories of Gorsky, Sigmund Freud, and René Girard are taken as a theoretical framework. It is disclosed that the mimetic principle is preserved in Gorsky’s theory, but he moves it into the sphere of the non-material. A hypothesis is put forward that with this gesture Gorsky frees up space for the magnetic-cloud eroticism he invented, as earthly and practical, but free from original sin. It is also noted that, being no less original and radical than the ideological legacy of Wilhelm Reich and Georges Bataille, and comparable in degree of originality to the theories of Paul Preciado or Catherine Malabu, Gorsky’s theory remains practically unknown.