Related Terms • Plato

Definition:
Utopia is a Greek term which literally means "no place" and is used to refer to an ideally perfect place, especially with regards to its social, political, and moral features. Utopianism, then, is a label which can be applied to any political, moral or social system which is aimed at creating such an ideal society.

Use of the term can be traced back to Sir Thomas More's book Utopia (1516), in which More depicted an ideal state. Many other famous works belong to the same genre of designing a vision of a perfect society, including Plato's Republic.

Also Known As: none

Alternate Spellings: none

Common Misspellings: none

Related Resources:

What are Political and Legal Philosophy
The Philosophy of Politics and the Philosophy of Law are often studied separately, but they are presented here jointly because they both come back to the same thing: the study of force. Politics is the study of political force in the general community, while jurisprudence is the study of how laws can and should be used to achieve political and social goals.

What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?