Utopian thinking and utopian designs ostensibly stand for a belief in human progress. The starting point of utopias is almost always a bad present that is to be overcome. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, doubts are growing about a plannable future designed by enlightened reason, about the project of modernity. Utopias are answered by dystopias. This makes clear: The basic motive of utopian thinking is the fear of an uncontrollable future, a fear that could perhaps be overcome by the principle of hope(Ernst Bloch), an amiable illusion.

The content

The "contradiction" of rationality and irrationality in utopian conceptions Fiction and reality Model and myth Symbol and symbolic action Enlightenment to autonomy.

Target groups

Humanities scholars, political scientists, and social scientists

Philosophers

Theologians

The author

Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Soeffner is Professor Emeritus of General Sociology at the University of Konstanz, Senior Fellow and Board Member at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI), and Permanent Visiting Fellow at the Forum internationale Wissenschaft of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.