The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), in its dictionary, defines utopia as a propensity to utopia. To know what utopia is, therefore, you must first focus on the idea of utopia.
Brief definition of «utopia» A utopia is an effort or initiative that is desirable, but whose realization is almost impossible. The term also refers to the imagination of a positive future for human beings.
Utopia: a place “that does not exist and did not exist”
The word utopia comes from a fictitious island that Thomas More described in a work from 1516. In Utopia, a legal, social and political system characterized by perfection reigned.
Utopia Returning to the concept of utopia, it is the philosophical or ideological trend towards utopia. The utopian individual seeks the realization of an ideal system, although there is no real basis to support this plan or desire. Utopianism is usually understood as the phenomenon that tends to build utopias. As the utopian is associated with the perfect, utopianism is often criticized because, generally speaking, perfection is incompatible with reality. For some thinkers, however, utopianism is valuable in its own right, regardless of its feasibility. The Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano wrote that every time someone walks closer to utopia, he moves away: that is why it is unattainable. However, for Galeano, utopia was precisely for walking. Starting from this premise, we can indicate that utopia is essential to act or advance even if the dream goal cannot be reached, because the path is important. Etymology In the term utopianism we find the suffix -ism, which comes from the Greek and gives the idea of ”activity or movement”, widely used for the creation of words that designate life postures, systems of thought and doctrines. The first part is occupied by the word utopia, coined by the aforementioned Thomas More, an important English humanist of the fifteenth century. This was formed by taking two Greek words to create the idea of a “nowhere”, of a place “that does not exist and never existed”. However, More was not the creator of the concept of utopia, but that credit belongs to Plato.
It all started with Plato. The ancient Greeks bequeathed us an incalculable amount of knowledge and thought. Centuries and millennia pass, but they are still valid and we continue to discuss them. In general terms, we can say that they recognized three social currents: Edenism (the first society was perfect), progressivism (improved civilization) and utopia.
We owe the concept of utopia to Plato
Plato created this concept to ask himself if the human being would be able to raise our society to perfection. This should happen voluntarily, that is, artificially, because our nature would never lead us to such an evolutionary state. Far from being a milestone that we could reach spontaneously, it would be a coldly calculated milestone, based on the meticulous design of its structures in all areas of life. Design and planning Plato’s utopia is a model that could lead to a world where private property no longer exists, for example, but where resources and goods are perfectly distributed. Something similar would happen with social roles, housing, access to education and work. Ultimately, everything must be designed and planned in detail. The question, therefore, is what this work will become, added to the implementation of the new system. Plato suggested that this responsibility belonged to the philosophers because their knowledge was perfect and not based on worldly interests.
