Concepts of Utopian Theory: Vision of the Good Life

To explore the concepts of Utopian theory, both political and social, one must first engender a concrete definition of what Utopia means. Sir Thomas More, the original creator of the term Utopia, signifies it as “no place”. However, More’s clever play on words seems ultimately to suggest that ”no place” is just no place right now. That is to say that Utopia is “an ideal place that does not exist in reality” yet (Murfin and Ray 529).
The theoretical and literary genres of Utopianism which came in the wake of More’s Utopia seek to promote a “vision of ‘the good life’”, as Barbara Goodwin and Keith Taylor explain in their collaborative work, The Politics of Utopia. This “good life” is often a vision which “transcends normal idealism” and “is inevitably at variance with the imperfections of existing society” (Goodwin and Taylor 4). Consequently Utopianism cannot be defined as a single type of work or theory but a collection of critiques of “social-political reality” (Goodwin and Taylor 5) as well as prescriptions social and political, for the attainment of a better place.
Utopianism has surfaced throughout history in a variety of forms as it shapes itself to suit the needs of socio-political climates. A survey of these historical periods in Utopianism will examined the origins of the Utopian impulse in theory as well as in practice. This examination will ultimately lead to an exploration of the modern Utopian impulse, which due to advances in technology, shits in intellectual production and a uniquely 21st century socio-political reality differs significantly in context and form from the works in its lineage.
An epistemological survey of Utopian texts (i.e. texts which describe “an ideal place that does not exist in reality” (Murfin and Ray 529)) must trace not only the chronological production of such texts but also the origins of the Utopian philosophy. Considered the first Utopian work Plato’s The Republic describes an ideal society in which conditions are as equal and preferable for all citizens as could be conceived. Plato’s Republic outlined social and governmental structuring as well as legislative and resource allocation policies which would be necessary for the sustainability of his society.
In The Republic we find a model of society that by contemporary standards may seem decidedly dystopian (i.e. a “nightmarish society in which few would want to live” (Murfin and Ray 125) based on a rigid class system, a “vindication of slavery” (Goodwin and Taylor 7) and the propagation of royal families in Plato’s “philosopher kings”. However, considering Plato’s episteme and the hardships of life in the ancient world, it becomes clear that benevolent, educated rulers who assure all citizens, even those condemned in slavery, that they will be provided for to the best that the society is able so long as they contribute what they can in turn to the society presents a radical concept and certainly created a preferable situation for the many, barely living day to day in the ancient Greek world.
Plato’s philosopher-rulers were expected to make “wise decisions by contemplating the absolute Ideas” (Goodwin and Taylor 26) and make few though “justly administered” (Goodwin and Taylor 26) laws to separate the community of the people from the processes of political structuring and administration. The notions of contemplation and moral choices, as well as the barrier between everyday life and the political sphere have remained common concepts within Utopian productions. While The Republic continues to be criticized for its traditional societal structuring it certainly projects an initial social impulse towards a better world. The Republic not only presents the first model of a Utopian society but it also represents some of the first materials in social education which encouraged peoples to do better for themselves and for each other. Plato’s philosophies run rich in The Republic as Plato creates his republic based on the idea that “humanity should aspire to the ideas of justice, friendship, and morality that it discovers in this unseen realm” (Murfin and Ray 385). Plato’s unseen realm is the place in which ideas are born and which humans have access to and therefore should strive to access as much as possible.
Plato’s philosophy and his Republic were not isolated ideas in the ancient community. Aristotle also argued that humanity’s ability to strive towards a higher level of morality, justice and brotherhood is what set them apart from the lesser animals. In Aristotle’s lectures On Happiness he begs his readers that “we must not follow those who advise us to have human thoughts, since we are [only] men, and mortal thoughts as mortals should; on the contrary, we should try to be as immortal as far as that is possible and to do our utmost in accordance with was is highest in us” (Aristotle 34). What is highest in us to these Greek philosophers is our ability to reason and to make moral choices that serve not only our benefit but the benefit of our collective human society. These philosophers fundamentally planted the Utopian seed within society which thrived and continues to be a legitimate expression in society and politics.
A more generally accessible example of the originating Utopian works can be found in the book of Genesis. Genesis’s Garden of Eden may also be considered a precursor to modern Utopian thought. The garden depicts an existence free from evil, pain, illness, and want. In the garden, inhabitants are subjected only to the law of God, which can be generalized as an adherence to morality, and to hard work, as they must work the garden and keep it in pristine condition. The ideas of adhering to a moral code and of hard work are not strange concepts in Utopian works. Morality plays a fairly constant role in Utopian societies as the foundations of a universally beneficial society are based on our ability and desire to make “right” choices, having as Plato argued,(contemplated the Ideas--*need Republic quotation). Work too is a common element of Utopias. As citizens expect to be provided for they must be the ones producing the products they require.
In Utopias, as in the Garden, one must give as much of oneself as possible to the society so that there is plenty to distribute to all members. The fall and the subsequent banishment from the perfect existence within the Garden serves as an example of how corruption has removed humanity from its golden age, or the “original period of human felicity, [the] idyllic state of ease, harmony, peace, and plenty” (Murfin and Ray 205). Humanity, having been educated in the perfection of the past, and the possibilities that morality, tolerance, and communitarianism can offer us for future betterment, continues to seek redemption to this lost age. Utopian philosophy and literature has served as the tool with which humanity can explore the possibilities of these preferable existences.