As this is dedicated to views of and relating to utopias, it is first necessary to lay down the fundamental description of utopia upon which it is based.
A utopia is a community/society that is free from such things as conflict, malicious violence, and dissent. Due to this fundamental lack of ill intent and unrest, it is often considered to be "perfect" and devoid of unhappiness. Perhaps the best and most accurate example of this entity is given by the Bible in its description of the Garden of Eden. This wondrous place was quite literally described as paradise. The first humans created by God were placed in the garden, intended to live in happy harmony with all the other animals and plants that were present there forever. The concept of sin itself did not exist in this land. This place of seeming perfection is what is meant by utopia.
The problem with this concept of perfection lies in the underlying problems which inevitably arise whenever something seems to obtain this quality of perfection. No matter how good something initially seems, there always is some snag or hole in the system which ultimately causes it to unwind. This can be displayed by continuing with the biblical example of the Garden of Eden. Even this paradise created by God himself, was doomed to unravel by means of some small failure in its set up. In this case, the snag occurred when a serpent, also believed to have been the devil, provoked the original sin. While the humans were intended to thouroughly enjoy and tend to the garden, God's only restrictive command was that they avoid eating the fruit of one particular plant. It seems as though this would have been an easy request to obey in order to remain in paradise, however, the deceptive serpent was able to convince them to partake of the forbidden fruit. When God discovered this disobedience in spite of all he had given them, he cast humans out of the garden forever. That even in these incredible circumstances the apparent perfection failed suggests that perhaps it is not possible to achieve utopia, and that the idea of utopia itself is merely a deception.
A utopia is a community/society that is free from such things as conflict, malicious violence, and dissent. Due to this fundamental lack of ill intent and unrest, it is often considered to be "perfect" and devoid of unhappiness. Perhaps the best and most accurate example of this entity is given by the Bible in its description of the Garden of Eden. This wondrous place was quite literally described as paradise. The first humans created by God were placed in the garden, intended to live in happy harmony with all the other animals and plants that were present there forever. The concept of sin itself did not exist in this land. This place of seeming perfection is what is meant by utopia.
The problem with this concept of perfection lies in the underlying problems which inevitably arise whenever something seems to obtain this quality of perfection. No matter how good something initially seems, there always is some snag or hole in the system which ultimately causes it to unwind. This can be displayed by continuing with the biblical example of the Garden of Eden. Even this paradise created by God himself, was doomed to unravel by means of some small failure in its set up. In this case, the snag occurred when a serpent, also believed to have been the devil, provoked the original sin. While the humans were intended to thouroughly enjoy and tend to the garden, God's only restrictive command was that they avoid eating the fruit of one particular plant. It seems as though this would have been an easy request to obey in order to remain in paradise, however, the deceptive serpent was able to convince them to partake of the forbidden fruit. When God discovered this disobedience in spite of all he had given them, he cast humans out of the garden forever. That even in these incredible circumstances the apparent perfection failed suggests that perhaps it is not possible to achieve utopia, and that the idea of utopia itself is merely a deception.
No comments:
Post a Comment