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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Etymology== '''Utopia''', imaginary and ideal country in Utopia (1516) by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:UtopiaMore.jpg|right|frame]]
==Etymology==
'''Utopia''', [[imaginary]] and [[ideal]] country in Utopia (1516) by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_More Sir Thomas More], from [[Greek]] ou not, no + topos place
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Century 1597]
==Definitions==
*1 : an [[imaginary]] and indefinitely remote place
*2 : often capitalized : a place of [[ideal]] [[perfection]] especially in [[laws]], [[government]], and social conditions
*3 : an impractical scheme for social improvement
==Description==
'''Utopia''' (in [[English]] /juˈtoʊpiə/) is a name for an [[ideal]] [[community]] or [[society]], which is taken from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book) Of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia], a [[book]] written in 1516 by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_More Sir Thomas More] describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly [[perfect]] socio-politico-legal system. The term has been used to describe both [[intentional]] communities that attempted to create an [[ideal]] [[society]], and [[fiction]]al societies portrayed in [[literature]]. It has spawned other [[concepts]], most prominently [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia dystopia].
The [[word]] comes from the [[Greek]]: οὐ, "not", and τόπος, "place", indicating that More was utilizing the concept as [[allegory]] and did not consider such an ideal place to be realistically possible. The English [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone homophone] Eutopia (/juˈtoʊpiə/), derived from the [[Greek]] εὖ, "good" or "well", and τόπος, "place", signifies a double [[meaning]].
==Varieties==
More's Utopia is largely based on Plato's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato) Republic]. It is a perfect version of Republic wherein the [[beauties]] of society reign (eg: [[equality]] and a general pacifist [[attitude]]), although its [[citizens]] are all ready to fight if need be. The [[evils]] of society, eg: poverty and misery, are all removed. It has few [[laws]], no lawyers and rarely sends its citizens to [[war]], but hires mercenaries from among its war-prone neighbors (these mercenaries were deliberately sent into dangerous situations in the [[hope]] that the more warlike [[populations]] of all surrounding countries will be weeded out, leaving peaceful peoples). The society [[encourages]] [[tolerance]] of all [[religions]]. Some [[readers]] have chosen to accept this imaginary society as the realistic blueprint for a working nation, while others have postulated More intended nothing of the sort. Some maintain the position that More's Utopia [[functions]] only on the level of a satire, a work intended to reveal more about the England of his time than about an idealistic society. This [[interpretation]] is bolstered by the title of the book and nation, and its apparent equivocation between the Greek for "no place" and "good place": "Utopia" is a compound of the syllable ou-, meaning "no", and topos, meaning place. But the homonymous prefix eu-, meaning "[[good]]," also resonates in the word, with the implication that the perfectly "good place" is really "no place."
Another version of this concept is found in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchaea Panchaea island], of the "Sacred History" book of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euhemerus Euhemerus], a [[writer]] from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_century_BC 3rd century BC].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia]
[[Category: Political Science]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
==Etymology==
'''Utopia''', [[imaginary]] and [[ideal]] country in Utopia (1516) by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_More Sir Thomas More], from [[Greek]] ou not, no + topos place
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Century 1597]
==Definitions==
*1 : an [[imaginary]] and indefinitely remote place
*2 : often capitalized : a place of [[ideal]] [[perfection]] especially in [[laws]], [[government]], and social conditions
*3 : an impractical scheme for social improvement
==Description==
'''Utopia''' (in [[English]] /juˈtoʊpiə/) is a name for an [[ideal]] [[community]] or [[society]], which is taken from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book) Of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia], a [[book]] written in 1516 by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_More Sir Thomas More] describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, possessing a seemingly [[perfect]] socio-politico-legal system. The term has been used to describe both [[intentional]] communities that attempted to create an [[ideal]] [[society]], and [[fiction]]al societies portrayed in [[literature]]. It has spawned other [[concepts]], most prominently [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia dystopia].
The [[word]] comes from the [[Greek]]: οὐ, "not", and τόπος, "place", indicating that More was utilizing the concept as [[allegory]] and did not consider such an ideal place to be realistically possible. The English [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone homophone] Eutopia (/juˈtoʊpiə/), derived from the [[Greek]] εὖ, "good" or "well", and τόπος, "place", signifies a double [[meaning]].
==Varieties==
More's Utopia is largely based on Plato's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato) Republic]. It is a perfect version of Republic wherein the [[beauties]] of society reign (eg: [[equality]] and a general pacifist [[attitude]]), although its [[citizens]] are all ready to fight if need be. The [[evils]] of society, eg: poverty and misery, are all removed. It has few [[laws]], no lawyers and rarely sends its citizens to [[war]], but hires mercenaries from among its war-prone neighbors (these mercenaries were deliberately sent into dangerous situations in the [[hope]] that the more warlike [[populations]] of all surrounding countries will be weeded out, leaving peaceful peoples). The society [[encourages]] [[tolerance]] of all [[religions]]. Some [[readers]] have chosen to accept this imaginary society as the realistic blueprint for a working nation, while others have postulated More intended nothing of the sort. Some maintain the position that More's Utopia [[functions]] only on the level of a satire, a work intended to reveal more about the England of his time than about an idealistic society. This [[interpretation]] is bolstered by the title of the book and nation, and its apparent equivocation between the Greek for "no place" and "good place": "Utopia" is a compound of the syllable ou-, meaning "no", and topos, meaning place. But the homonymous prefix eu-, meaning "[[good]]," also resonates in the word, with the implication that the perfectly "good place" is really "no place."
Another version of this concept is found in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchaea Panchaea island], of the "Sacred History" book of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euhemerus Euhemerus], a [[writer]] from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_century_BC 3rd century BC].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia]
[[Category: Political Science]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]