Changes

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]].

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]

*Date: [https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Century 1597]

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

*1 : an [[imaginary]] and indefinitely remote place

*1 : an [[imaginary]] and indefinitely remote place

*3 : an impractical [[scheme]] for social improvement

*3 : an impractical [[scheme]] for social improvement

==Description==

==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].

'''Utopia''' (pronounced /juːˈtoʊpiə/) is a [[name]] for an [[ideal]] [[community]] or [[society]], which is taken from [https://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 [https://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 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia dystopia].

==Varieties==

==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."

Utopia is largely based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato Plato]'s [https://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 [https://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]

Another version of this concept is found in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchaea Panchaea island], of the "Sacred History" book of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euhemerus Euhemerus], a [[writer]] from the 3rd century BC.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia]

[[Category: Political Science]]

[[Category: Political Science]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]