God's By-Products and Other Discrepancies: A Critical Analysis of Plato's Magnesia and Liberation Theology as Viable Utopic Constructions in Relation to Mainline Christian Tradition

Courtney Caswell-Payton, The College of Wooster

Abstract

The following thesis is an examination of utopias. It is found that on a general level, utopias provide an interesting insight into human nature. On the one hand, these visions reflect anticipation of an amendment to the percevied flaws of the society in qestion as well as the expectation of an improved future for the cotozens of that society. Yet given that utopias are a human invention, their hope and optimism is coupled with the unfortunate presence of individual will and bias. Such will and bias is manifest differently depending on the type of vision formulatied, and by and for whom the vision in coceived. In the religious realm, for example, both Platonic thought and Liberation theology offer utopic alternatives to mainline Christian tradition in the United States. Yet certain aspects of their constructions undermind these visions' abilities to function effectively as viable philosophical or religious options in light of the over-riding national importance of mainstream Christian doctrine. A carful analysis reveals that Plato's inability to identify a concrete God-head and the liberationist's inadvertent establishment of a hierarchy among persons, are but two examples of these systems and visions structural flaws. This discovery then culminates into the questio of teh overall feasibility of utopic constructions, not only in thes specific instances, but for societies and individual in general.