Topic > On the idea of ​​utopia: Thomas More

The definition of utopia in the Merriam Webster Internet dictionary is as follows: it is a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions; it is an impractical scheme for social improvement; furthermore it is an imaginary and indefinitely remote place. Now we know the textbook definition of utopia, but what is the concept in real life? What does this have to do with the story? Does a perfect society work? What does the idea have to do with decisions and mistakes made in the present? Utopia is a complicated theory thought up by Thomas Moore and many other philosophers and statesmen before him, which continues today with ideas ranging from pure democracy to communism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1516, Thomas More, an English lawyer and future advisor to King Henry XII, published a book in Latin, “Libellus…..de optimo reipublicae statu, deque nova insula Utopia”. The English translation means “Concerning to the High State of the Republic and the new island Utopia”. The word “Utopia” in its current meaning was first used by More, but its original meaning was “No Place”. In the book More seems to speak of a society community that prides itself on detesting excesses of wealth. People are separated into large family groups of forty-fifty people and families change residence every few years, there are senators and magistrates who are elected, and then a prince who rules for life but which can be easily deposed if the citizens want it. His ideas have been used and discussed for many years, but he was not the only person to have ideas about a utopia. Greek poets and thinkers such as Plato and Hesiod wrote about society perfect in poems and books. The writers of Genesis wrote about Eden, an imaginary paradise that was the original home of humanity until they ate of the forbidden tree in the garden. Virgil, a Roman, wrote about what could happen with future innovations and social changes. Plato's Republic is about a society ruled by both male and female Stoic philosophers who are not related by family lineage. There were also women like Christine de Pizan in 1405 and much later Charlotte Gilman in 1915 who imagined utopias of free men. In short, many have thought of utopian societies where everything is perfect according to them and what they think is perfect for the human race to succeed. Is a utopian society functional today? Has there ever been an example of a perfect society? Humans by nature are the opposite of perfection, some even detest the mere idea of ​​perfection. So it's hard to wonder what all these ideas would look like in real life. After Thomas More wrote “Utopia,” it seems that there were many people who tried those ideas in reality. Almost all of them failed, at least the most fundamentally communal ones. Most of the utopian settlements were located in America, where there was more freedom of religion and belief.