Searching for Utopia
After the French Revolution many men began a search for a utopian society, one which would allow justice and happiness for all who resided there. It was not only a search for these men, but a lifelong goal, for if such a place created many of life's problems would disappear. In order to make this vision come to life, the principles and laws that would create such a society must be understood. It was men such as Saint-Simon, Fourier, Jefferson, Owen, Bentham, Malthus and Ricardo who sought to create and identify with the factors which would allow for this utopian vision to become a reality. For Saint-Simon the perfect utopia would have scientists at the top of the political structure, along with the industrialists and artists. His reasoning for this seemingly odd political structure was that it was not only important to fill the emotional needs of the people, it was also important to keep reason alive in both the minds of the people and those who govern them. He put these ideas into words in his book, Nouveau Christianne, which stated that a society organized by science must be balanced by the Brotherhood of Man. His doctrine was later turned into a religion by his followers. Even though many of hi
Saint-Simon, Fourier, Jefferson, Owen, Malthus, Bentham and Ricardo were all men who contributed to society through their thoughts and theories that they presented. All had society's best interests in mind when coming up with their utopian dreams. All felt that society must be arranged and regulated is some way in order to achieve a society in which all could live happy and comfortable lives. Malthus had almost the exact opposite belief of Bentham. In his published work Essay on Population, he writes about his theory of mathematical laws influencing human affairs. He applied these laws to the pro-creative process and came up with some depressing results. The way Malthus figured it, population increased at a geometrical ratio and food at an arithmetical ratio. What this meant is the gap between the food supply and the number of people would increase at an accelerating pace with devastating results. Although, not everything in his theory was that glum. He noted that there were positive checks in population to keep it from exploding. Some of these positive checks include war, famine and plague. Unfortunately, for those who believed in his theory, by 1803 Malthus had come to the conclusion that the problem could never be solved, but that it could be kept in bounds. In order to do this Malthus declared that the poor must remain poor. Instead of giving them charity, we don't give them anything and just let nature take it's course. He reasoned that if we were to give them food or raise their wages then they will end up creating more offspring, who will also end up poor and needing assistance. It is because of this cycle that Malthus came up with his own idea, one which is the exact opposite of Bentham; to deny the greatest pleasure to the greatest number. Malthus himself did not preach the effects and benefits of birth control, which would have seemed to be the humane way of doing things, perhaps because he himself had fourteen children. s writings may seem extremely unrealistic, several of them were prophetic in nature. Not only did he predict future events, he also influenced many great minds of the nineteenth century, making him an important figure of
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Approximate Word count = 1472
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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