When people talk about Utopias and utopian societies, it is really easy to think about perfect places in which everyone does whatever they want, without any rules and regulations. But then, reading the classical utopian novels like “Utopia” by Thomas More and “A Modern Utopia” by Herbert George Wells, it is possible to see how some kind of legislation always exists. For several people, this presence of laws is seen as something inevitably negative and in contrast with the idea of an utopic place; this is probably also because the common definition of law suggests a strict and restrictive concept: “A rule of conduct imposed by authority.” “The body of rules, whether proceeding from formal enactment or from custom, which a particular state or …show more content…
Analyzing More’s and Wells’ Utopias, I will demonstrate how these laws always have the purpose to motivate the citizens to take active part in the society, to contribute to the community and, so, to keep them living in a good, fair and secure …show more content…
In fact, since they are promulgated for the end that “every man may know his duty”, they have to be clear and accessible to anyone, also to the people who are “so dumb, and so much employed in their several trades”, or do not have “neither the leisure nor the capacity requisite for such an inquiry.” (More, 2008, p. 129) This was clearly a critique of the body of laws in More’s time. In facts, as Eliav-Feldon points out in her book “Realistic Utopias. The Ideal Imaginary Societies of the Renaissance 1516-1630”, More thought that rules and norms were “too long, extremely complex, open to different interpretations, and written in a language that most people do not understand.” (Eliav-Feldon, 1982) For this reason, the solution of utopian thinkers is really easy: in their novel, in order to improve the societies, they simplify the complexity of the legal system, “so that it will be possible to have a system in which every individual knows exactly what is right and wrong and that will happen if the taboos of the society are violated.” (Sergent, 1975, p.
The idea of laws was to make the morals of the community and their
The founding notion of the law was that governments exist in order to secure a person to natural order. The progressive notion, however, was that positive laws must be created that emerge from the will of the
In the modern world, we strive to reach our own “Utopia”, but this is just an unattainable ideal. Thomas More’s “Utopia” is the pinnacle world where you are equal by choice, or by force. This ideal society is extremely communal were nobody has want and nothing is closed off to any body. The people in Utopia criticize and ridicule those of contemporary society, they mock their rulers who were gems and fancy clothing to show their high rankings. The Utopians theological statement regarding sins that underlie these problems, namely greed and pride- sins against the social order. Modern day needs more equality among diversities, the segregations and prejudices we live with sour the world and make it prone to violent outbreaks.
The authors talk about the laws and history as shaping the moral views of society, those who are in authority get to dictate what is right from what is wrong. The system is base on what those in power determine is the moral rule.
Our society is more regulated than controlled by the government. We consciously vote for the government officials in hope for new regulations that would make our lives better. There are laws that are meant to prevent people in our society from harmful actions. We might not do certain things in fear of being arrested, but in the utopia people do not even think about those things simply, because they are
The social constructs of law relate it to be something of complexity, where one’s rights and protections are imagined to be difficult to find. The law is an historic and modern aspect of the world, ensuring uniformity. It is important for the law to become not only a creator, but also a product of its environment. For society to accept the law and for its effectiveness, it must be made in ways reflect societal values.
The Gun control law is very logical to maintain for the government since they believe that humans under pressure can cause dangerous situations as holding a gun can cause one’s pressure to increase. It is reasonable to make guns illegal as they believe that their citizens will perform dangerous acts (such as killing) while under pressure. Another example that Anatta’s Utopia is the most realistic is that abortion is legal, this is a sensible law to make as the government believes that humans inherently have good intentions. SInce the government believes that humans have good intentions,it is sensible for abortion to be legal and for the person who is pregnant to
This article argues that there is a big difference between the government and the society. In this article, Thomas Paine illustrates that the people will be happier if they created their laws that guide them, rather than following the law of the government that is wicked towards them.
In his book Utopia, Thomas More examines a society that seems to be the ideal living situation for human beings. The main thesis of Utopia is his solution to many of the problems that are being faced in English society in the early 16th century.
The definition of the word ¨law¨ is "any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority of the state or nation, as by the people in its constitution. " Laws help shape the world into what we need it to be. If I were to apply these laws to the world, then the world wouldn't repeat the fatal mistakes it has made in the past. The importance of the laws I have chosen are shown by the books 'Night', 'Sounder','The Diary of a Young Girl:Anne Frank', 'The Giver', and 'Number The Stars'.
Numerous societies may attempt to construct an ideal utopia, but very few are able to get close to achieving such an unattainable goal. A populace must strive to practice principles of excellent standards in order to come out on top in the face of other civilizations. Taking that into account, Anarres’ society in Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed is more utopian compared to the novels contrasting society of Urras and the modern World Sate in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World because it maximizes freedom and minimizes selfishness.
Initially, laws are difficult to design because lawmakers can’t think of every possibility, every scenario, and every obstacle that may present itself in the democracy. Despite these difficulties, laws keep society together and provide unity for the citizens. Advantages for creating laws, include, but are not limited to, providing direction for the collection of taxes, declaring clear expectations for compliance and punishment of citizens and elimination of chaos.
Imagine if someone you loved was shot. You call the cops, but they say that there is nothing that can be done because there are no laws saying they have to punish the criminal. If there were no laws, criminal could get away with crimes like that repeatedly without any punishment. This is a prime example of why laws are needed to keep society in order. The idea of rules in society has been around since King Hammurabi created the first set of laws in 1760 B.C. Egyptian civilizations created laws so that their society would last longer than other civilizations because people would respect their morals. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, made a statement about human nature, saying that, “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.” He had a theory that
that are practically suitable and workable is one of the key features. A share of these goods of the citizens is openly observable and makes possible the required comparisons between citizens. It is secondly “a necessary condition for a political conception of justice to be Utopian is that it uses political (moral) ideals, principles, and concepts to specify a reasonable and just society.” There is a relation of reasonable liberal conceptions of justice of which each has the basic three characteristics principles.
Every nation today has laws, instituted by the ruling class (throughout this essay, when I mention laws I am referring to legal laws, not moral laws). The