Advanced Topics in Liberty

Freedom and Utopia (Spring 2010)

May 7-9, 2010 – Arlington, VA

This conference will examine the constant tension between human freedom and the fallibility and limitations of human nature. The goal in this conference is to raise questions about threats to liberty that are posed by man’s belief that he can achieve perfection and utopia. Frequently, this tension is resolved in favor of an absolute exaltation of the human person and an unwillingness to acknowledge the inherent weaknesses in human knowledge and responsibility. This shuttering of humility (in service of the belief that man can perfect his existence with science, technology, and political power) has frequently been expressed in the literature and philosophical essays of western civilization. This conference will explore utopia as it has been portrayed in literature, as well as essays on the subject. The readings for the conference also offer reflections on the inevitable dastardly consequences of utopian policy.

Session 1:       Promethean Reach: Liberation and/or Tragedy

Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persians. Penguin Classics, 1961. pp. 20-51

Session 2:       Utopia, Christianity, and Communism

More, Thomas. “Book Two” Utopia. Penguin Classics, 2003. pp. 49-113

Session 3:       The Tempest

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Signet Classics, 1998. pp. 3-87

Session 4:       The Communist Utopia

Lenin, V. I. The State and Revolution: Chapters 1 & 5.  Kessinger Publishing, 2004. pp. 4-18 & 70-86

Von Mises, Ludwig. Socialism: Chapters 9 & 11. Liberty Fund, 1991. pp. 163-172 & 186-194

Session 5:       New London and Reservation in Brave New World

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World: Chapters 1-8. Harper Perennial, 1998. pp. 1-139

Session 6:       The Controller Speaks in Brave New World

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World: Chapters 9-18. Harper Perennial, 1998. pp. 140-259