ABSTRACT
Utopia is not only the result of a new social consciousness, but also the proper outcome of the humanist theories of literature applied to society in general. With its conscious, often playful fictitiousness and its moral purpose being clearly perceptible in the presentation of an ideal country, the utopian fiction conforms closely to the most important requirements of the humanistic approach to art and literature. Humanistic activity is not confined to the fictive creation of the happy country; it is also at work in shaping a different way of achieving happiness within this ideal country. In the one case happiness is a state of grace, in the other it is the result of a conscious human effort. For humanistic activism it is not enough to believe that evolution is automatically progressive because some benevolent anonymous life-force is at work. ‘Humanism, with the aid of the picture given by science, can achieve a framework strong enough for support.
