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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Etymology== Utopia, imaginary and ideal country in ''Utopia'' (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from [[Greek...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Utopia-woodcut.jpg|right|frame]]
==Etymology==
Utopia, [[imaginary]] and [[ideal]] country in ''Utopia'' (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from [[Greek]] ou not, no + topos place
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 homophone Eutopia, derived from the [[Greek]] εὖ, "good" or "well", and τόπος, "place", signifies a double [[meaning]].
*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''' (pronounced /juːˈtoʊpiə/) 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 [[fictional]] [[societies]] portrayed in [[literature]]. It has spawned other [[concepts]], most prominently [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia dystopia].
==Varieties==
Utopia is largely based on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary 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]], including utopian socialists, 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 [[confusion]] 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 homophonic 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 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 Sir Thomas More, from [[Greek]] ou not, no + topos place
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 homophone Eutopia, derived from the [[Greek]] εὖ, "good" or "well", and τόπος, "place", signifies a double [[meaning]].
*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''' (pronounced /juːˈtoʊpiə/) 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 [[fictional]] [[societies]] portrayed in [[literature]]. It has spawned other [[concepts]], most prominently [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia dystopia].
==Varieties==
Utopia is largely based on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary 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]], including utopian socialists, 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 [[confusion]] 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 homophonic 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 3rd century BC.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia]
[[Category: Political Science]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]