Utopia

Utopia, in its most common and general positive meaning, refers to the human efforts to create a better society, a perfect society that does not exist (yet).

History of utopia

Thomas More depicts a rationally organised society, through the narration of an explorer who discovers it - Raphael Hythlodaeus.

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Utopia is based on The Republic where all property is held in common. Furthermore it is a perfect version of The Republic where the beauties of society, eg equalism and no war, all exist and the evils of society, eg poverty and misery, are all extinct. It has few laws, no lawyers and rarely sends its citizens to war, but hires mercenaries from among its war-prone neighbours.

Related Topics:
The Republic - Equalism - Lawyer - Mercenaries

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It is likely that Thomas More, a religious layman who once considered joining the Church as a priest, was inspired by monastical life when he described the workings of his society. Thomas More lived during the age when the Renaissance was beginning to assert itself in England, and the old medieval ideals – including the monastic ideal – were declining. Some of Thomas More's ideas reflect a nostalgia for that medieval past. It was an inspiration for the Reducciones established by the Jesuits to Christianize and "civilize" the Guaranis.

Related Topics:
Thomas More - Monastical - Renaissance - Reducciones - Jesuits - Christianize - Civilize - Guarani

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His book has high popularity that the term utopia became a byword for ideal concepts, proposals, societies etc. Therefore for every author who proposes an utopia, it usually involves criticisms of many evils in the world, and all these evils will disappear in his imaginary society. The things outlined in the utopia are usually radical, revolutionary, inspirational, or speculative. Thus the term utopia becomes the equivalents of idealism.

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Although some authors has described their utopia with some sorts of practicality, the term utopia has stereotyped as optimistic & idealistic & perfect; and readers will often mislabel their concepts as impossible or void.

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