CHAPTER 3 UTOPIAS: MODEL STATES

Utopias
Word comes from Sir Thomas More and is derived from the Greek terms ou topos (no place) and eutopos (a place where all is well). A positive model that tests the limit and logic of a political theory, as well as offers a critique of contemporary politics and society Its opposite, dystopia, gives examples of political experimentation gone terribly wrong.

Four Utopias
1. Platos Republic

2. Bacons New Atlantis 3. Marxs Classless Society 4. Skinners Walden Two

Platos Republic
Dialogue about the meaning of justice and the best political order. Society divided in three classes:
farmers and artisans warrior-auxiliaries philosopher-guardians (reflecting Platos view of the soul).

Platos Republic
Only philosophers possess an excellent soul and therefore must rule.
Lower classes are kept in place by a noble lie and all society remains in balance.

Bacons New Atlantis

Bacon envisioned a society improved by scientific progress and the mastery of nature. In some ways, it is a modern utopia because Bacon expected his dream to come true.

Marxs Classless Society

Class struggle and revolution leads inevitably to withering of the state and peace in a classless society. Outcome of dialectical materialism: once private property is eliminated, no inequality, no conflict, no state.

Details of utopia are hazy, but: true human fulfillment will be possible benevolence will flourish.

Skinners Walden Two

Based on behavioral psychology, Skinners utopia makes no claims about human nature except that human behavior can be engineered and that social harmony can be arranged through the planning of social stimuli and positive reinforcement. This creates a situation in which the behavioral scientist is an almost god-like figure, controlling the behavior of the community without checks on power.

Utopias revisited
Political thinkers use utopian models for different reasonssome to critique, some to flesh out a theory, some to offer a model to the world. The road to utopia, the mechanism that brings it about, is also varied and is often determined by the authors philosophy.

Utopias revisited
Modern utopias are intended as blueprints for the future. Utopian views of human nature understand it as good or malleable; those who disagree are re-educated, banished or weeded out at birth.

Utopias revisited
Utopian thinking presents a difficult problem or political scientists as utopians generally have given up on politics. Dystopias, such as George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, illustrate the potential problems of utopias and utopian thinking.