Utopia
17th through 19th Centuries
17th Century Utopia
The 17th century saw an increase in Utopian productions following the success, among intellectuals, of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. These Utopian works were created in the path that More had laid. While the Utopian works of this century are structurally manufactured in More’s style, one work in particular stands out as original concepts of Utopianism even though heavily influenced by More’s creation. Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis is an impressive example of how Utopian works consistently seek the same general ends though highly varied implementations.
Like More, Bacon’s Utopia is set apart from the rest of the world, an isolated island nation. Unlike the rest of the world, both More’s and Bacon’s, which are essentially ignorant of the Utopian society, the Islanders are well aware of the habits, traits, progression, and capabilities of their extended global community. Told from a traveler’s perspective, Bacon’s text explores discovery and allows for comparison between a familiar socio-identity and an unfamiliar, harmonized, collective social identity found on the island. Having physically situated themselves and interacted with members of the community the travelers remark on the harmony, efficiency, and comforting nature of the Utopian society. New Atlantis, to the travelers, was viewed as “a picture of our [s]alvation in Heaven; for we that were a while since in the Jaws of Death, were now brought into a place, where we found nothing but [c]onsolations” (Bacon 11). The narrator’s reaction to Bacon’s society is strong and positive. The positive social dynamic in Bacon’s society is a direct result of his social structuring. Where More had designed his Utopia to point out the negative aspects of contemporary England, Bacon set out to prescribe for actual policy and planning that could realistically be modeled on and put into practice. The scientific basis of Bacon’s “House of Solomon” and the structures of his political practices and social and special ordering were Bacon’s truly original contributions to Utopian theory. In the search for truth and knowledge, which Bacon’s society regards as highly as they do their morality gives the island’s citizens a “completeness of home” (Kaufmann 21). Bacon’s travelers reiterate throughout the text the general manner of the island’s citizenry and at “such a [h]umanity, and such a [f]reedome and desire” (Bacon 26) that the people embodied, which made them content in a fashion that was not found in other societies. |
18th and 19th Century Utopias
America, however, was not the only place to experience a surge of Utopian philosophy in these centuries. On the continent, the success of the American Revolution and the impending prospect of the French Revolution stirred intellectuals to consider what new societies that would construct. The radical political climates of the period were “regarded as landmarks on the path of progress towards the future realization of complete liberty” (Goodwin and Taylor 154). Political reestablishment afforded Utopians with a chance to inject their ideals into mainstream political policy and social institutions at the least. Furthermore, these political revolutions allowed for experimental communities on the continent, as well as in America, to be created. These communities were not always successful and none found permanent sustainability in practice, though many have persisted in theory.
Western Utopianism underwent an intellectual and practical transformation in the 18th and 19th centuries. For the first time in western history, it was becoming a realistic possibility to create new, preferable, and utopian societies. Untethering from the negative connotations of subjugated, monarchial pasts, western societies began to produce not only literary explorations of Utopias, but also to build these societies as well. The Americas granted members of western societies, who sought a “better place,” the opportunity to create and sustain their own, particular Utopian communities. Many religious and cultural groups sought these bourgeoning prospects and crossed the ocean to an unknown world, just as More and Bacon’s travelers. Intentional Utopian CommunitiesFor more information on Intentional Utopian Communities in America and Europe during this time period click above link
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Bacon is generally considered one of the great scientific pioneers and in contemporary terms of “[t]he unparalleled triumphs of the age of Elizabeth” (Kaufmann 16), it is clearer to understand how and why Bacon would have supported the practicality of a scientific, enlightened, and through truth seeking, harmonious society as a viable option for society. Bacon was not necessarily too idealistic in his endeavor either, as many of his predictions and prescriptions for modeling social, political, and educational systems on the natural systems and scientific methods have become the standard in the western world. With highly reasoned, scientific principles and theories, Bacon delivers a Utopia, which results in the same condition of happiness, and efficiency that More hypothesized, and would not have imagined in practice, a century earlier.