Publisher's Synopsis
""The Story of Utopias"" by Lewis Mumford is a historical and philosophical exploration of the concept of utopia. Mumford traces the origins of utopian thinking back to ancient Greece and Rome, and follows its development through the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and into the modern era. He examines the various forms utopias have taken, from Plato's Republic to Thomas More's Utopia, and explores the social, political, and economic theories that underlie them. Mumford also considers the practical challenges of implementing utopian ideals and the criticisms that have been leveled against them. Ultimately, he argues that utopian thinking is essential to the progress of society, even if it can never be fully realized in practice. The book is a thoughtful and engaging examination of a timeless idea that continues to inspire and challenge us today.1922. Utopia has long been another name for the unreal and the impossible. We have set utopia over against the world. As a matter of fact, it is our utopias that make the world tolerable to us: the cities and mansions that make people dream of are those in which they finally live. The more that men react upon their environment and make it over after a human pattern, the more continuously do they live in utopia; but when there is a breach between the world of affairs and the over world of utopia, we become conscious of the part that the will-to-utopia has played in our lives and we see our utopia as a separate reality.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
