Thomas More Utopia Response

R3wLaura Chappell Colloquium 390U Thomas More Utopia Response

The idea of utopia is often associated with the words ideal, peace, harmony, perfection, and the list goes on !owe"er, e"en the most perfect place on #arth #arth you can imagine is going to ha"e its $lind spots spots These down falls stem stem from the fact that no society can please e"ery citi%en who inha$its inha$its it, that is, e"ery person&s person&s idea of perfection "aries "aries 'lthough it does ha"e its upsides, More&s utopia undou$tedly has $lind spots More&s Utopia Utopia encompasses a pro$lem that many man y other representations of utopia also ha"e( the loss of indi"idualism indi"idualism The goal of ta)ing away indi"idualism indi"idualism in society was to equal out the playing playing field for all of its its citi%ens *y eliminating difference among indi"iduals, More&s utopia also eliminates po"erty, greed, +ealousy, and other negati"e attri$utes that currently eist in society due to to the freedom of indi"iduality indi"iduality -n the surface this seems li)e a smart idea, $ut $y ta)ing away indi"idualism, More&s utopia also suppresses creati"ity, imagination, and ingenuity These aspects ser"e as main function of society society .ithout them, people rarely e"er reach their full potential, and how can that $e $est for society/ imilar to this loss of indi"idualism, indi"idualism, is the complete loss of pri"ate property property 1n More&s utopia, no citi%en has personal owner own er ship of anything, e"erything is simply commonwealth This is also meant meant to le"el the playing field field among all citi%ens *y eliminating ownership of  pri"ate property, More&s utopia is simply restricting restricting the growth of the society .ith .ith no  pri"ate property comes no need for money within the society #liminating the use of money stifles the need for citi%ens to ecel $ecause they ha"e no moti"ation for going a$o"e and  $eyond The reward of money plays a "ery important role in society society 1t pro"ides an

incenti"e to do well, and fosters humans& dri"e to accomplish and achie"e More tries to ma)e this seem li)e it is $eneficial to society, $ut in reality it is not 1n addition to this, other dar) sides to More&s Utopia lie within the fundamentals of his imagined society 1n More&s utopia, there still eists disease, mental illness, unfa"ora$le weather, and crime 1f utopia is supposed to $e a perfect society, then this is simply contradicting 'lthough More does propose $eneficial ideas in which to deal with these ailments in society, he does not fully eliminate them, and therefore the $ad effects that they cause still eist in More&s utopia 2erhaps the largest and most serious pro$lems in More&s Utopia are that it does not allow for ad"ancements of any )ind, population growth, or any form of change in general More&s utopia is intentionally ignorant to any technological ad"ances in the outside world, and, as a result, the society is stuc) li"ing in the same state for eternity This is simply unrealistic,  $ecause no society can sustain while remaining stagnant 1f More&s utopia eisted in the real world, it would ne"er sur"i"e $ecause it would $e impossi$le to not react to the ad"ancements in other areas of the world without failing as a society More&s solution to this  pro$lem is ma)ing the island on which More&s utopia eists completely isolated, which is a  pro$lem in of itself 'll of these aspects of More&s utopia are $lind spots that ma)e it unrealistic and unachie"a$le This is simply why utopia& means no4place, it cannot eist in the real world without failing These $lind spots within More&s utopia all represent social coercion, and are oppressi"e as well as restricti"e