Cosmicism

Cosmicism is American author H. P. Lovecraft's name for the literary philosophy he developed and used for his fiction.^[1]^[2] Lovecraft was a writer of horror stories that involve occult phenomena like astral possession and alien miscegenation, and the themes of his fiction over time contributed to the development of this philosophy.^[3]

The philosophy of cosmicism is explained as the idea that "there is no recognizable divine presence, such as a god, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence."^[4] The most prominent theme is humanity's fear of their insignificance in an incomprehensibly large universe:^[5]^[6]^[7] a fear of the cosmic void.^[8]

^ Joshi, The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, p. 12.
^ "Seven surprising ways H.P. Lovecraft influenced our pop culture (5. Bleak Philosophy)". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. Lovecraft dubbed his view of the world 'cosmicism', in which all the achievements and inherently noble qualities of humans and humanism pale in comparison to the vast indifference of the rest of the universe.
^ Davis, Sarah S. (19 February 2019). "Your Introduction to the Cosmic Horror Genre". BOOKRIOT. RIOT NEW MEDIA GROUP. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. Lovecraft's fiction established the Cosmicism literary philosophical movement, of which cosmic horror is one example.
^ Nguyen, Trung (20 December 2016). History of Humans. Is There a God?. Vol. 3. EnCognitive. ISBN 9781927091265. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2020. Cosmicism [is] [t]he literary philosophy…stating that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as God, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence.
^ Peak, David (2014). The Spectacle of the Void. U.S.A.: Schism Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1503007161. This [Lovecraftian] paralysis is caused by the realization that the underlying problem…[is] that incalculably large void which envelopes us all.
^ Philosophical Team (15 March 2019). "HP Lovecraft: The Cthulhu myth, upside down Kant's horror" [H.P. 洛夫克拉夫特：克蘇魯神話，顛倒康德的恐怖]. Hong Kong News (in Traditional Chinese). Hong Kong 01 Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. 'Cosmicism' [is such that] [t]he universe transcends human imagination and is unimaginably huge. When human beings…face this near-infinite macro…[they] will feel extreme fear, and they are on the verge of madness because of their smallness and absolute powerlessness. The fear of the 'wake' people facing the great existence constitutes the core idea of Lovecraft's horror literature.
^ Baldwin, Matthew (15 March 2012). "H.P. Lovecraft, Author, Is Dead". tmn. The Morning News LLC. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. The defining feature of Cosmicism is…the utter insignificance of [hu]man[kind].
^ Peak, David (2014). The Spectacle of the Void. U.S.A.: Schism Press. pp. 57, 59. ISBN 978-1503007161. Julia Kristeva defines the void as 'the unthinkable of metaphysics'…[T]he void…is that which lies beyond comprehension…[an inability] to correlate what we see with [what we] previously understood…This is the horror of the void: humans coming face to face with displacement, alienation, and the meaninglessness of life in the universe

[1] Joshi, The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, p. 12.

[LOVE-2] "Seven surprising ways H.P. Lovecraft influenced our pop culture (5. Bleak Philosophy)". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. Lovecraft dubbed his view of the world 'cosmicism', in which all the achievements and inherently noble qualities of humans and humanism pale in comparison to the vast indifference of the rest of the universe.

[3] Davis, Sarah S. (19 February 2019). "Your Introduction to the Cosmic Horror Genre". BOOKRIOT. RIOT NEW MEDIA GROUP. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. Lovecraft's fiction established the Cosmicism literary philosophical movement, of which cosmic horror is one example.

[4] Nguyen, Trung (20 December 2016). History of Humans. Is There a God?. Vol. 3. EnCognitive. ISBN 9781927091265. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2020. Cosmicism [is] [t]he literary philosophy…stating that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as God, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence.

[5] Peak, David (2014). The Spectacle of the Void. U.S.A.: Schism Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1503007161. This [Lovecraftian] paralysis is caused by the realization that the underlying problem…[is] that incalculably large void which envelopes us all.

[6] Philosophical Team (15 March 2019). "HP Lovecraft: The Cthulhu myth, upside down Kant's horror" [H.P. 洛夫克拉夫特：克蘇魯神話，顛倒康德的恐怖]. Hong Kong News (in Traditional Chinese). Hong Kong 01 Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. 'Cosmicism' [is such that] [t]he universe transcends human imagination and is unimaginably huge. When human beings…face this near-infinite macro…[they] will feel extreme fear, and they are on the verge of madness because of their smallness and absolute powerlessness. The fear of the 'wake' people facing the great existence constitutes the core idea of Lovecraft's horror literature.

[7] Baldwin, Matthew (15 March 2012). "H.P. Lovecraft, Author, Is Dead". tmn. The Morning News LLC. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019. The defining feature of Cosmicism is…the utter insignificance of [hu]man[kind].

[8] Peak, David (2014). The Spectacle of the Void. U.S.A.: Schism Press. pp. 57, 59. ISBN 978-1503007161. Julia Kristeva defines the void as 'the unthinkable of metaphysics'…[T]he void…is that which lies beyond comprehension…[an inability] to correlate what we see with [what we] previously understood…This is the horror of the void: humans coming face to face with displacement, alienation, and the meaninglessness of life in the universe

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