The Writings Of Plato, Karl Marx And Frederick Engles, And...

The writings of Plato, Karl Marx and Frederick Engles, and Rene Descartes attempt to address the question of how to produce happiness. Each philosopher believed that through the actualization of each of their utopian societies, a civilization can achieve happiness as well as perfection of mankind. The theories presented by Plato, Marx and Engles, and Descartes are idealistic and unfortunately impossible to completely represent. However, each philosopher conveys several unique ideas that can be practically implemented to improve society. The four philosophers each have a different outlook on how to develop utopia. Different topics are touched upon to better portray their theories such as religion, politics, rationalism, and leadership styles. Through their ideas, the writers are better able to discuss and influence the implementation of their thoughts. In order for Plato, Marx and Engles, and Descartes to describe their views on a perfect society, they had to outline their views on ha ppiness. They believed that in order to be perfect, a society must be happy; however, their opinions differed on whether the contentment of an individual or the group as a whole was more important. Although perfection is defined differently for each philosopher, their visions create a mold for how society could potentially try to perfect civilization to an extent. Plato Plato uses a description of justice to asset his position on a utopian world. His views construct a model for how society