What is Thomas More's book Utopia about?

Published in 1516 by Thomas More, Utopia coined a term to describe an imagined ideal society that serves as a perfect habitat for its members. The concept acts as the conceptual opposite of a dystopia, which represents an undesirable, fearful, or wretched state of society. Utopian thinking functions culturally and psychologically as a framework for criticism, change, and compensation.

What we know

• Thomas More coined the term utopia in 1516 to describe an ideal society. [2, 3]
• A utopia denotes an imagined ideal society that is envisioned as a perfect habitat for its members, though it is nonexistent in reality. [3]
• Dystopia is widely seen as the conceptual opposite of the utopia concept introduced by Thomas More. [2]
• Utopian thinking connects to three primary functions: criticism, change, and compensation. [3]

Where to go next

• compared withWhat is a dystopia?
• how it workedHow does utopian thinking function psychologically?
• the bigger pictureWhat is the broader genre of fictional societies?
• the bigger pictureHow do definitions of good vary across philosophical contexts?
• an unexpected connectionWhat is Niccolò Machiavelli's political treatise The Prince about?

Sources

• [1]dystopia (Wikidata Q180774) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Dystopia · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Utopian thinking · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]The Prince · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Good · CC BY-SA 4.0