Amid the twentieth century's seemingly overwhelming problems,
some thinkers dared to envisage a world order governed by utopian
proposals that would eliminate--or at least alleviate--the evils of
society and secure positive advantages for all human beings. Others
found this utopian optimism a hopeless fantasy and predicted a
utopian order only repressiveness, boredom, and the impoverishment
of human experience. The unique gathering of articles in "Utopia"
vividly demonstrates the tension existing between utopian ideas and
their proponents and the severe criticism of their adversaries.
Among utopia's enthusiastic supporters, B. F. Skinner outlines
the educational practices needed to sustain his concept of utopia,
while Margaret Mead sets forth a bold defense of utopian vision in
her article "Towards More Vivid Utopias." In active opposition to
modern utopian idealism, Ralf Dahrendorf, the prominent German
sociologist and politician, compares utopia with a cemetery and
criticizes its fixed and uneventful life, and J. L. Talmon predicts
that, since utopianism postulates absolute social cohesion, there
is no escape from dictatorship in the utopian design. Still another
alternative is offered by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who bases his
futurist ideology on the trends of technology in the advanced
countries of the world, especially the United States. He sees in
the conscious application of technical-scientific rationality by an
intellectual elite the method by which the promises of modern
knowledge can be made good.
Underscoring the fact that the utopian tradition can make us
look at the real world with new eyes, George Kateb, the editor of
"Utopia," clarifies the terms of this long-standing debate and
offers a thorough analysis of the "strong utopian impetus to save
the world from as much of its confusion and disorder as possible."
The work is an argument neither for utopian or anti-utopian
visions. Rather it shows the possibilities of political norms in
advancing the human condition in open societies.
"George Kateb" is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics,
Emeritus at Princeton University. He formerly had the roles of
Director of the Program in Political Philosophy, Director of the
Gauss Seminars, and Director of the University Center for Human
Values all at Princeton University. His most recent book is
"Patriotism and Other Mistakes" and he is also the author of many
scholarly articles mainly in the fields of constitutional law and
the Bill of Rights.
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