The Beginning of Utopia

The origin of the word 'Utopia' can be traced back to the first publication of Thomas More's work of fiction titled 'Utopia'. More invented this word by taking inspiration from two Greek words 'ou-topos' translating to 'no place' and 'eu-tops' meaning 'a good place'. While More was the first to put forth the word of Utopia in 1516 the concept itself has been around for much longer. The very roots of the word give birth to a question; is realization of a perfect world possible or is it a mere illusion that man is chasing after. 

Illusion or not, the concept has always been prevalent in human minds. Across the course of history one can find a number of literary works that play with the idea of a perfect world. However, the specifications for each world differ from the other in accordance to the likes, dislikes, and beliefs of its builder. Which brings forth the question of what true Utopia really is.

One can find the traces of similar ideas of civilizations with an ideal governance system as far back as 380 BC. In ‘The Republic’ a dialogue composed by Plato, effort is invested in describing an egalitarian community led by philosophers. In fifteenth century Christine de Pizan, a writer who worked for French court, brought forward her vision of a Utopian society in form of ‘The Book of the City of Ladies’. The book illustrates a city built and run only by women, who sought to create a sanctuary for females in a patriarchal society. Another unique utopic concept is found in the Kildare Poems put together in Ireland in roughly 1330. The poems portrayed a land of all fun and joy with no work.

After the publication of the work of Thomas More, for nearly five centuries, the idea of Utopia greatly influenced everything. In 1905, H.G. Wells wrote ‘A Modern Utopia’ where he describes a planet existing parallel to Earth that hosts a perfect societal mechanism. In the said planet there exists equality of race and genders. However, this idea comes of as very naïve when one looks at the contemporary world. Wells understood this as well and published ‘The World Set Free’ right before the first world war. Then comes ‘A Brave New World’ a classic written between wars by Aldous Huxley. This work of fiction categorized as dystopia is a satirical response to the Utopian world set up by H.G. Wells. Huxley used this book as a space to create a world where science ruled over everything, genetic engineering is at its prime, and almost nothing in the world is left natural.         

Huxley hailing from a family of scientists uses his book as a space to warn humanity about the horrors a world dominated by science can bring about. Huxley’s brother was accredited as the father of transhumanism and worked for the Tavistock institute (focus—behavioral science). His grandfather was a part of the original eugenics movement in England and known as the Darwin’s bulldog. That is how Huxley knew of what was coming, not just a work of fiction or a wild guess, his work is based on factual evidence of what was being researched, developed and implemented behind closed doors.

In an interview Huxley delivered a very interesting statement; 'Medical science has made such tremendous progress that there is hardly a healthy human left'. This statement coupled with his classic novel leads one to think about the impact scientific progress possibly can have on the society.