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Utopia Reconsidered: Two Levels Of Perfection In Society, Jason Lepojärvi

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Every person has wondered whether idealism without naïveté or realism without cynicism is possible. In common parlance, utopia is not only eu-topic (a place of the good), but also forever a-topic (without place). Who is right: the idealist who believes, or the realist who disbelieves, in the possibility of a perfect society? This article suggests that utopia both is and is not possible. There are two ways to understand the idea of a ‘‘perfect society.’’ In an absolutely perfect society there is no reality of sin. Given this reality, however, in some societies it nonetheless is easier to be good. …