Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction
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There are many debates about utopia - What constitutes a utopia? Are utopias benign or dangerous? Is the idea of utopianism essential to Christianity or heretical? What is the relationship between utopia and ideology? This Very Short Introduction explores these issues and examines utopianism and its history. Lyman Sargent discusses the role of utopianism in literature, and in the development of colonies and in immigration. The idea of utopia has become commonplace in social and political thought, both negatively and positively. Some thinkers see a trajectory from utopia to totalitarianism with violence an inevitable part of the mix. Others see utopia directly connected to freedom and as a necessary element in the fight against totalitarianism. In Christianity utopia is labelled as both heretical and as a fundamental part of Christian belief, and such debates are also central to such fields as architecture, town and city planning, and sociology among many others Sargent introduces and summarizes the debates over the utopia in literature, communal studies, social and political theory, and theology.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This little book is a distillation of years of scholarship by someone who is deeply engaged in this subject area. If you are a new student it provides a revealing introduction and world reference framework. If you are an existing scholar it helps readjust your perspectives. An inspiring short essay by a master. A good place to start.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found this second hand and never regretted buying it. I'm always a bit sceptical about short guides about various topics but this one has got the balance just right, in my opinion, and gives the reader a very good introduction to the field of Utopian studies. Even the seasoned scholar will find it a useful place for various signposts and references.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
No Place Like Utopia
23 Nov 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Utopia" is a name of the sixteenth century book by St. Thomas Moore which deals with a fictional idealized society. The name "Utopia" comes from Greek for "no place" and it strongly suggests that an idealized place that Moore described either doesn't or can't exist anywhere. There are many indications that Moore intended the book to be at least partially a satire, but in the ensuing centuries both critics and the admirers of "Utopia" have approached it as an earnest attempt to describe an earthly paradise. The book was originally written in Latin, but due to its incredible popularity it was soon translated into many European languages. It has inspired many imitators and it has emboldened many social visionaries to strive for bringing an actual "utopian" society into an existence. Unfortunately most such utopian attempts have been met with a failure, and consequently "utopian" has come to denote futile pie-in-the-sky social reform schemes.
This very short introduction starts off with an overview of Moore's book, but then it goes both backward and forward in time to show that utopian literature and practice have a very long history. In a sense Utopia is an answer to one of the oldest questions in all of philosophy - what does it mean to lead a good life. Most answers to that question have assumed that a truly good and fulfilling human life can only be lived in a social context, and thus the question of living a good life gets transformed into a question about the ways we can construct an ideal society. Throughout the history there have been many answers to the question of an ideal society which range in scale from just a few individuals to all encompassing empires. The term that is used for all these purposefully organized societies is "intentional communities." This short introduction explores many of these intentional communities, and shows that utopianism is a much more prevalent phenomenon then one might have guessed. Almost any culture in the world has had its own version of Utopia, whether as a literary phenomenon or an actual attempt at a realization of a utopian ideal.
Not all utopias are happy places, and in the recent century and a half many thinkers and writers have contemplated an "ideally" bad society - a "dystopia." Unfortunately some of these dystopias are based on the large scale social experiments that have so tragically marked the twentieth century.
Overall this is a remarkably well written and informative book on a very interesting subject. I highly recommend it.
This very short introduction starts off with an overview of Moore's book, but then it goes both backward and forward in time to show that utopian literature and practice have a very long history. In a sense Utopia is an answer to one of the oldest questions in all of philosophy - what does it mean to lead a good life. Most answers to that question have assumed that a truly good and fulfilling human life can only be lived in a social context, and thus the question of living a good life gets transformed into a question about the ways we can construct an ideal society. Throughout the history there have been many answers to the question of an ideal society which range in scale from just a few individuals to all encompassing empires. The term that is used for all these purposefully organized societies is "intentional communities." This short introduction explores many of these intentional communities, and shows that utopianism is a much more prevalent phenomenon then one might have guessed. Almost any culture in the world has had its own version of Utopia, whether as a literary phenomenon or an actual attempt at a realization of a utopian ideal.
Not all utopias are happy places, and in the recent century and a half many thinkers and writers have contemplated an "ideally" bad society - a "dystopia." Unfortunately some of these dystopias are based on the large scale social experiments that have so tragically marked the twentieth century.
Overall this is a remarkably well written and informative book on a very interesting subject. I highly recommend it.
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