The question of what kind of world do you want to live in has a different answer for everyone. Some writers, on the other hand, create an imaginary world, utopia, from these answers, even if it is not real. Let’s take a closer look at the utopia-themed books that sometimes it’s nice to even dream about, oh I wish we could live here.
We can discuss what an ideal world would be like until the morning, but the only issue we cannot discuss is that the answer to the question of what kind of world would you like to live in will be different for everyone. One of the most fundamental subjects of philosophy is the ideal society, the ideal world order. While philosophers present this at a level of thought some writers dream of utopias through the books, they reach the reader.
Books on utopia are actually quite a broad category because the question of what is utopia is like a bottomless abyss. A world ideal for one to live in, another can be a real hell. For this reason, the books on our list may not always give you what you want, but we are sure that they will be a guide for those who are looking for the answer to the question of what is utopia and will lead some of our readers to dreams.
Let’s first make a basic definition; What is utopia?
Utopia is formed by combining the Greek words ou meaning ‘not’, eu meaning ‘perfect’ and topos meaning ‘place’; an ideal society that can never be realized, It is a designed world. While utopias sometimes use it as a propaganda tool that guides society for the better, sometimes they can also draw imaginative societies that will never happen.
Utopias can show societies perfected from different angles. The economic situation in utopias is great, The political structure is stable, religion either does not exist or dominates the society with all its rules, science and technology are at the highest level that humanity can reach. So everything in a utopia is at its best, at least for its author.
Some of the utopia-themed books that you will dream about while reading:
The work in which the foundations of the idea of utopia were laid: The State
In the work called The Republic, written by Plato, one of the most important philosophers of the ancient Greek world, It is explained how a state structure should be established for a healthy and happy society. The State, drawing a society divided into three classes, mentions that each class must have its own virtues and that the society will become the happiest thanks to these virtues.
You can click here to examine and buy Plato’s Republic in more detail.
The greatest example of social happiness: Utopia
It is possible to say that Utopia, written by Thomas More, is the work that started everything because writers and philosophers have drawn an ideal society picture before, but The person who named it was Thomas More. The author, who presents the clearest example of social happiness in the novel, actually tells how a state, in which what Plato described in his book The Republic, was applied, turned into a paradise on earth.
You can click here to examine and purchase Utopia in more detail.
The pinnacle of the happiness of the society and the individual: Ada
We all know the name Aldous Huxley for his heartbreaking dystopian work Brave New World. The author wanted to score one last goal before he died. he describes an opposite utopia Ada wrote her work. In the story told through the eyes of our character who accidentally falls on an island, we follow the ideal life in Pala, a very rich island. The story draws a real utopia, both socially and psychologically.
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The secret of everything is in science: New Atlantis
The New Atlantis is actually an incomplete work, a story found in the last pages of Sylva Sylvarum after Francis Bacon died. The main feature of the book is It is one of the first works to see the secret of happiness in science. Although the narrated society does not turn its back on traditions, it is based on science and a social order is established thanks to technology that develops with science.
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A world without a single man: The Land of Women
If you’re wondering what it would be like if women ruled the world, here’s the article by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. feminist utopia Country of Women. The story, which begins with three American men colliding with a community of women, tells what it would be like to have a society made up of all women and women as leaders. Of course, we witness a deep questioning of gender roles in every line.
You can click here to view and purchase the Land of Women in more detail.
The full title, Looking Back: 2000 to 1887, was written by Edward Bellamy in 1887. A socialist utopia is told in the book, which became a bestseller as it was published. Of course from this point of view It must be said that it is a kind of propaganda because it offers a narrative about how the production dynamics and management relations in a society founded on socialist ideology will be reflected in social life.
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An island without private property: Land of the Sun
The Land of the Sun, penned by Thoma Campanella, bears important traces from Thomas More’s Utopia. Story, It begins with a Genoese captain discovering an island. The people on this island live a kind of commune life. It is said that there is no smugness among people because private property is completely forbidden on the island. People in this place, where education is prioritized, have reflected the positive side of nature into their own lives.
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Platonic Islamic approach: The Ideal State
He writes in the work called Ideal State, which was written by Farabi, one of the most important names of the Islamic Golden Age, and also known as El-Medinetül Fazila, Ideal Society, It combines the Platonic understanding of thought with the Islamic belief. In the book, which bears the traces of Plato’s The Republic, there is a head of state, who is described as an imam in accordance with Islam. This ruler acts as a kind of caliph and his sole purpose is to ensure the happiness of the society.
You can click here to examine and purchase Farabi’s Ideal State in more detail.
The ideal society, which is seen as impossible to be realized, is explained. We have listed some of the books on utopia by answering the question of what is utopia. Of course, this list could have been much longer. You can share the books on utopia that you want to be on our list in the comments.