Utopia - The Impossibility of Perfection Essay example

In Thomas More’s book, he describes the ideal place to live. In the society he describes there is no greed, war nor corruption. More’s book implies that greed is the source of all evil and without it, we would live in Utopia. If I were to write a Part 2 of Utopia, I would include three new ideas. In addition to More’s descriptions, I would add a few of my own. It would be a place where there was no one suffered from mental illness, no hate, and crime did not exist.

In his book Utopia, Thomas More examines a society that seems to be the ideal living situation for human beings. The main thesis of Utopia is his solution to many of the problems that are being faced in English society in the early 16th century.

The world that the narrator imagines is uniquely utopian because it is not static. It is constantly trying to improve itself. Before discussion of how Utopia constantly improves itself, it is interesting to note that this statement implies that this Utopia is not perfect. This is acknowledged near the beginning of the book when the two men meet a traveler who questions the establishment and would rather there be buildings. He says; "[Buildings are] a mere rash. Why should we men play the part of bacteria upon the face of our Mother?"(116). Still this he is not separate from civilization, as he makes, "some considerable way above the minimum wage" (117). This man’s protest of the establishment is the first hint that this new world does not claim to be perfect. In fact, later in the novel, the Voice admits that "There is no perfection, there is no enduring treasure"

Although comparing one society to another does not require them to be different in government or human behavior, it does necessarily weight one’s faults against its victories to render it better or worse than the other. This comparative structure, found between Thomas More’s two books of Utopia, poses the country of Utopia opposite the broader communities of world civilization. Despite the comparison of Utopia as distinct from and morally better than widespread society, in truth Utopia is, at best, an extension.

Sir Thomas More was a key proponent of the renaissance Humanist movement during the 16th century. He wrote the work Utopia to critique his own society and take measures to improve their social and political problems by establishing a commonwealth that focused on abolishing private property and individuality. The goal of taking away individualism in society was to provide equal opportunities for all of its citizens. By eliminating discrepancy among individuals, More’s Utopia also eradicates jealousy, greed, poverty and other negative characteristics that currently exist during the same time in English society due to the country’s freedom of individuality. On the surface this seems like a wise idea, but by taking away individualism, More’s Utopia

In Thomas More’s Utopia, the elimination of property and money has all citizens working for the commonwealth. It is “where every man has a right to everything. They all know that if care is taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can want anything. For among them there is no unequal distribution so that no man is poor, none in necessity and though no man has anything, yet they are all rich” (More 81). More’s Utopia also encourages a balance of power within society. It is where an individual, in a position of power, is not “as idle as drones, that subsist on other men’s labor” (More 7) It is where that individual gives “more regard to the riches of his country than to his wealth” (More 21).

A utopia is what everyone is aiming for, but is that really what they are getting? With the hopes of a perfect society, we the people are rushing for a drastic change in the way things work without giving too much care in which direction things are changing, and that can and will cause definite issues. In the hopes to rush into a perfect world, too many people are treating government like a roulette wheel and hoping for the best, even though all odds are against them. In doing so, they are setting themselves up for a more controlled tomorrow.

The concept of utopia is one which has many differing connotations and is therefore also one which cannot be confined to one interpretation alone. The term is commonly used to represent a community or society that, in theory, possesses highly desirable or near-‘perfect’ qualities; however, these encompassing ideals, which arguably place emphasis on egalitarian principles of equality, are implemented in a number of ways and are subsequently based on varying ideologies, thus insisting on varying views of morality. The word itself, which was first coined by Sir Thomas More in the early sixteenth century and used to describe a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean, was taken from the Greek οὐ (‘not’) and τόπος (‘place’), literally translating

Each person has their own vision of utopia. Utopia means an ideal state, a paradise, a land of enchantment. It has been a central part of the history of ideas in Western Civilization. Philosophers and writers continue to imagine and conceive plans for an ideal state even today. They use models of ideal government to express their ideas on contemporary issues and political conditions. Man has never of comparing the real and ideal, actuality and dream, and the stark facts of human condition and hypothetical versions of optimum life and government.

In our lives today, we take advantage of all the luxuries that are presented daily. Freedom alone is one of the greatest luxuries we possess as an American nation. In Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs and Utopia by Thomas Moore, we are presented two life styles, which some might consider very similar in various ways. Both authors focus on a peaceful living lifestyle, to better the people of the nation. Although some of their specific details are different, I believe that Jacobs would definitely approve of the features that More develops in Utopia.

Firchow, Peter Edgerly. "George Orwell's Dystopias: From Animal Farm to Nineteen Eighty-Four." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 Mar. 201

A utopian community would be a world without oppression, discrimination or social hierarchy—essentially, an ideal place to live. However, does a perfect society really exist? In Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, More flirts with the concept of a utopian community with regard to geography, city structure, labor, government and religion. Considering these aspects, the community depicted in Utopia is primarily a success, with limited failures.

The idea of a perfect society, or “utopia,” was first introduced in Sir Thomas More’s book Utopia, written in 1516. In the book, More described a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean through the character Raphael. On the island everything and everyone has a specific place and purpose. There is no private property, all of the houses on the island are the same; you can walk in the front door, through the house, and out the back door. All necessary items are stored in warehouses, where people only request what they need. The people on the island manufacture the items in the warehouse, everyone that can work does, which means little to no unemployment.

Throughout Thomas More's Utopia, he is able to successfully criticize many of the political, social, and economic ways of the time. His critique of feudalism and capitalism would eventually come back to haunt him, but would remain etched in stone forever. On July 6, 1535, by demand of King Henry VIII, More was beheaded for treason. His last words stood as his ultimate feeling about royalty in the 15th and 16th centuries, "The King's good servant, but God's first." Throughout his life, More spoke his beliefs about feudalism, capitalism, and his ideals of Utopia; More was a thinker, good friend of Erasmus, and although many critics take Utopia as a blueprint for society, in many instances he encourages thought, a critical part of the

Utopia is a brilliant novel written by Thomas More. The idea of a utopia seems impossible, how can anyone live in a perfect place when perfection is in the eyes of the beholder? The Utopia in this novel is nothing more than abundant of already established ideas therefore it can’t not truly be a Utopia.