Utopia - a student project

By Clare Jarmy, teacher of Philosophy & Religious Studies

What would the perfect society be like? This is the key question in the final project of the Bedales Assessed Course (BAC) in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (PRE). Students spend a term working on a project that requires them to look deeply into what makes a good society, developing their own original vision for a perfect world.

The Utopia Project has been part of the PRE BAC for the past couple of years, and the aim is to excite students about a philosophical issue in quite an original way. It is an Independent Learning Project that requires the student to demonstrate textual knowledge of 5 key texts (including such divergent works as Plato’s Republic and Orwell’s 1984) as well as undertake their own research, reflect on current and historical societies and present their findings in the form of an essay of around 3000-4000 words, as well as giving an oral presentation.

Students found that they came up against the same problems again and again. I had some very interesting conversations with Jonathan Campbell and Tom Wilshire amongst others about the extent to which, in a perfect society, one can control a population. The dilemma was clear in their minds – without control, one cannot guarantee a perfectly ordered society, but with too much control, those in power can’t guarantee true happiness, just coercion.

Another question that students found themselves particularly interested in was the form of government in the society. Having learned about Plato’s views on meritocracy, a number of students, including Tatiana Middleton, became to a certain extent sceptical about a system of government which requires you to hold no qualifications other than being a citizen of voting age. Others, such as Korel Walley, aimed to improve democracy by increasing the power held by the general electorate, and banning political parties.

Perhaps after having researched Thomas More’s Utopia, many students decided to set their perfect societies on islands (often tropical ones!) and many students, such as Tim Jones, used knowledge from their BAC Geography to build on their reasons for choosing that setting. Some people did feel that a Utopia could be set in the UK, though usually only after some kind of nuclear holocaust...

What was perhaps most interesting about the whole process was that in a generation that is often defined by its adherence to technology, there was a large number of students that limited its role in their perfect society. Often, students such as Katie Shannon and Felix Conran were sceptical about the benefits of technology, or wanted to promote values of craftsmanship and creativity. Perhaps most interesting amongst examples of this was Elize Layton’s project, which was based on the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. After having independently researched some of the writings of William Morris, Elize became very interested in the ideals of the movement, ideals on which, of course, Bedales was founded.