Scientific and technological progress in the realm of science fiction of the Soviet era

Abstract

Science fiction was not only a companion of scientific and technological progress, but also one of its drivers and controllers. It was perhaps the main artistic polygon on which social and psychological innovations related to scientific and technical progress was tested. After the Twentieth Party Congress literature in the Soviet Union had gotten the opportunity to ask some critical social and ideological issues. Literature, despite the pressure and repression felt free compared to official philosophy which, as a matter of fact, had been reduced to the role of the “servant of ideology”. One of the main areas which were accessible for writers in the USSR was that of scientific and technological revolution, the relationship between man and technology, the ethical dimensions of scientific inquiry etc. The question is where are the limits of applicability of the rational principles in human existence, and how to combine ethical and rational-scientific principles in human activity. The author discusses the understanding of specific areas of science and technology in the realm of science fiction.