DEVELOPING UTOPIA
In the early 16th century, the naval powers of Europe were engaged in the beginnings of a programme of expansion and exploration. The Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa had just been successfully navigated. The islands of the Caribbean and the coasts of both North and South America were starting to be mapped. As these territories were being added to the European conception of the world, there was a thinker in England, Thomas More (Sir if you are English, St. if you are Roman Catholic) who took this opportunity to think about how we, as a society, could organize itself better. The product was a short book called Utopia. More, was not the only thinker to do this, nor was he the first. Plato conducted a similar exercise in The Republic, as did Augustine of Hippo in The City of God, Al Farabi’s Al-Madina al-Fadila. Where More’s stands out, is that his is the source of the word “utopia”, meaning a society with desirable or perfect qualities.
In this assignment you are going to go through a similar process, either independently, or with a partner. You are going to layout, as More did, what your ideal society would look like and the basis upon which it would be developed philosophically. This does not mean that you will need to take what you have learned and will learn and apply one system without modification or uncritically, but rather to take those parts that you think are most beneficial and most compatible, and work them together, in a coherent way. The assignment will be broken into 3 parts which you will work on in consecutive order. (NOTE to Andrew: I will let you decide on the manner in which the parts are handed in, whether as a whole or each part one at a time, etc. as you see fit).
Part A: Rights & Freedoms; Distribution of Power & Wealth
In Part A you will lay out the philosophical foundations and broad strokes of what your society will look like. You will describe how power and wealth will be spread out (or concentrated as the case may be) within your society. You will also describe what Rights and Freedoms will be valued and within the society that you are creating. You are encouraged to describe, where necessary, how this might look in broad strokes, particularly in terms of rights and the distribution of power, as a prelude to Part B. You may wish to actually create a list of Fundamental Freedoms or Rights.
Part B: Organization of Government, Decision-Making & Responsibilities of Citizens and the Government
Based on what you have laid out in Part A, you will then give some substance to your conceptualization of utopia by describing how your government will be organized, and how decisions will be made. You will need to ensure that you are consistent in your ideas between Parts A and B. You will also describe the responsibilities of both the citizens and the government. What are citizens REQUIRED to do? What duties MUST they perform? What does the government HAVE TO do? What kinds of this MUST the government provide?
Part C: Justice & the Legal System
Finally, you will describe how you will ensure that there is justice and fairness in your utopia? What is “justice”? How will you ensure it is upheld? What will happen if there are conflicts in terms of justice (justice for whom is superior, such as the majority or the minority)? Will there be a systematic organization for settling disputes, such as a legal system? How will it be organized?
FOR ALL PARTS: You will also need to explain and justify WHY you have made the choices that you have made. What will be the benefits of doing things this way? What are the downsides to your choices and how have you minimized them. Keep in mind that the philosophical ideas laid out in class are theories that are much more difficult to put into practice without some deviation from their source. Why have you rejected certain ideas? If it is relevant, describe and connections that have been made, or need to be made with other areas of philosophy – to metaphysics, to ethics, to epistemology. You may also wish to consider other aspects of your society such as the role that the environment plays in how your society is organized, or non-citizens.
You must also be sure to refer to specific and relevant ideas, terminology, and philosophers that you learned about in class. From where do your ideas come from? To who are your ideas linked? Which ideas and philosophers are you rejecting?
The Final Product
You will hand in the final product in a form that you think best allows you to accomplish the tasks above. It can be in the form of a written essay or report. If you think you can adequately explain your ideas and how things are connected using an electronic medium, such as Power Point or Prezi, you may. You may create a poster, or write a (short) book, or a concept web.
DUE DATE(S):
Evaluation
Vocabulary, Terminology, Philosophers – How well did you use the necessary terminilogy and connect to relevant philosophers and ideas / /30 KU
Consistency – How consistent are you ideas throughout all three parts. Have you minimized and contradictions between theory and practice> Where there may be inconsistencies or contradictions, have you explained or justified them? / /20 TI
Application of theory into a Practical Scenario – How clearly have you described what you society will look like? How thoroughly have you described your utopia? Have you put the ideas you are using into practice? / /30 A
Communication of Your ideas? Were your ideas easy to understand? Was your writing clear and error-free? How well did the medium you chose lend itself to presenting this information? Did it lack visual representations that would have made your clarified your ideas? / /20 C
Total / /100