UTOPIA - A FORM OF UNDERSTANDING - THE FUTURE MODERN ERA

Aug 21, 2026

The text examines how societies understand the future through utopia, arguing that civilizational differences and archetypes of consciousness shape distinct future-oriented visions. It analyzes the rationalist Modern era’s belief in scientific truth and the practical realization of ideal projects, while also questioning claims of social philosophy’s omniscience. Utopia is discussed as a transcendent, critical, and action-relevant worldview product that models ideal states and challenges existing social orders. The work highlights theoretical study of future models, with a focus on Ukraine’s formation under martial law.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time42 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Understanding the future in spiritual culture

Utopia as worldview consciousness and social modeling

DOI [https://doi.org/10.30525/978-9934-26-357-6-10](https://doi.org/10.30525/978-9934-26-357-6-10) UTOPIA – A FORM OF UNDERSTANDING THE FUTURE MODERN ERA Rozova Т. V. INTRODUCTION Today, during the martial law, Ukrainian society is going through one of the most difficult stages of its formation. At a turning point in social development, the issue of Ukraine ’s civilizational affiliation is being discussed. In this connection, the prognostic possibilities of humanitarian knowledge, the identification of various forms of understanding the future atthe theoretical level are actualized. Essential civilizational differences based on archetypes of consciousness, specifics of mentality, features of historical, cultural, and economic development of various peoples led to one or another form of understanding the future. The ontologization of ideal models in our recent history led to moral maximalism and Bolshevik messianism. Good thoughts, which, as you know, pave the road to hell, gave birth to a gigantic phantasmagoria of real life. The rationalist worldview of the Modern era was characterized by the conviction that the world develops on reasonable foundations, the best of which can only be found by scientific truth, that rational thinking, which seeks the only true truth, legitimizes social development, that only orientation to scientific knowledge ensures the progress of society, establishing normative patterns of its development. The fetishization of rationality, associated with the confidence that reality can be reshaped in the desired direction, according to the ideal project, opened the way for the realization of utopia in practice. This psychological instruction continues to "work" today with the only difference that it is proposed to create new scientific theories, other ideal models of the social system and "launch" them into practice. But social philosophy cannot claim omniscience, it has the role of liberation from dogmas, immutable truths and stereotypes of thinking. Understanding its meaning lies in understanding the processes taking place in society. In this connection, the task of studying different ways of understanding the future, and in particular, utopia, is quite relevant. Is it legitimate to have a negative attitude towards it or an overly optimistic expectation of a new utopia associated with a new model of the social system? In this context, the desire to theoretically understand the functioning of various ways of understanding the future, various models and images of the future, among which utopia as a form of understanding the future of the Modern era occupies a prominent place, is relevant and well-founded. 1. Understanding the future in spiritual culture Utopia, as a product related to the formation of a scientific outlook, has an intentional and transcendent character. Utopia manifests itself both in thinking and in practical activity and focuses on what does not exist in reality. Under the utopian consciousness since the publication of Karl Mannheim ’s famous book "Ideology and Utopia" 1 is most often understood as a transcendent being, has a critical function and is aimed at restructuring the existing social order. Not everything can be agreed with this interpretation of utopia. Indeed, it must necessarily be transcendent in being, but this is a property not only of utopia, but also of any type of worldview consciousness: mythological, religious, scientific. Therefore, highlighting transcendence as a distinguishing feature of utopia itself will not contribute much to the understanding of this phenomenon. It should be noted that by utopia we do not mean any fantastic constructions, but only those projects that are related to the modeling of society. One more point requires clarification: not every product of worldview consciousness that does not correspond to reality is utopian. Karl Mannheim quite rightly identifies the following distinguishing feature of utopias: their critical functio

FAQs

Why does the text connect utopia with the understanding of the future?

Utopia is treated as a form of future-oriented understanding that focuses on what does not yet exist in reality, while modeling ideal states and influencing how societies think and act.

What distinguishes utopia from other non-real worldview products?

The text emphasizes the critical function of utopia: utopian projects attempt to restructure or partially undermine the existing social order, unlike every unrealistic worldview product.

How does the Modern era rationalist worldview relate to utopia?

The text describes Modern rationalism as believing that social development can be legitimized by scientific truth, which encouraged attempts to realize utopian ideals through practice by creating new theories and models.

Aug 21, 2026

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