Cosmenosis

Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2010).

I agree with Cosmenosis or at least with the following propositions:

reality grows and transcends its earlier stages - inorganic matter, organisms, consciousness, self-consciousness, contemplative consciousness;

the highest have a duty to help the development of the lower;

the Ancients were so widespread that it is unlikely that they became extinct;

it is at least possible that they advanced to a higher plane and will return;

rumors of a forerunner should be investigated but with critical skepticism, not with uncritical credulity.

However, I would add that the focus of spiritual practice should be present meditation, not a future hope. It is all too easy to go from "it is at least possible that they advanced to a higher level and will return" to "(it is at least possible that) they advanced...and will return" to "they advanced...and will return."

In terms of a political program, I would advocate enfranchisement of the entire population and an end to the hereditary principle both in parliament and in education. However, the Aeneans are traditionalists and, if consulted, for example in a referendum, might vote to preserve hereditary rights and distinctions. Desai thinks that Tatiana looks shocked when he raises the possibility of disempowering the gentry in favor of "...manhood suffrage..." (p. 125), not universal suffrage, but he himself wants to make minimal changes, maybe only strengthening trade links with the inner Empire.