Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Utopias

The great German novelist Thomas Mann implored readers to resist the persistent and growing militarism of the mid-twentieth century. To whom should we turn for guidance during this current era of global violence, political corruption, economic inequality, and environmental degradation? For more than two millennia, the world's great thinkers have held that the ethically "good life" is the highest purpose of human existence. Renowned political philosopher Fred Dallmayr traces the development of this notion, finding surprising connections among Aristotelian ethics, Abrahamic and Eastern...

In light of concerns about food and human health, fraying social ties, economic uncertainty, and rampant consumerism, some people are foregoing a hurried, distracted existence and embracing a mindful way of living. Intentional residential communities across the United States are seeking the freedom to craft their own societies and live out Mohandas K. Gandhi's vision of democracy based on the values of nonviolence, self-sufficiency, equality, and voluntary simplicity.

Over the course of four years, A. Whitney Sanford visited ecovillages, cohousing communities, and Catholic worker...

What would the ideal society of the future look like? In 1516, the eminent English humanist Thomas More tried his hand at imagining a perfect society on a distant island. His Utopia was published in the Flemish town of Leuven, home of a university that was established almost a century earlier. Five hundred years later, scholars of this university revisit More's best-known work and reflect on the ideal society of the future, using the scientific insights of today, including perspectives that More could never have imagined. From the creation of spare organs, artificial intelligence,...

In Thomas More's hugely influential Utopia, a traveller recounts his discovery of an
island nation in which the inhabitants enjoy unprecedented social cohesion and justice. The book imagines a community in which laws, personal relations and professional ambition are based on reason, in contrast with the tradition-bound superstitions of Europe, which were, in More's eyes, impediments to equality and peaceful coexistence.
One of the indicators of the profound cultural and political influence of More's masterpiece is today's common use of the word "Utopia" - a term he invented. This...

Speaking truth is not as simple as it sounds - Ageres of the Stables

Finding Heraan is a tale of truth; a fable for our time.

Ageres, young and uncertain, is driven to deliver a powerful message. He must find places where the message can be heard. But, like many of us, he is beset by challenges and temptations that could hide his truths forever or, on the other hand, transform them to tyranny.

A beautifully crafted allegory, Finding Heraan encourages us to pause and reflect on how we might foster the human...