Humanity's Place in Utopia is Nowhere

Abstract: Utopia, the perfect society, is a concept linked with the perfect human being. These concepts are the focus of Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars, and this essay will examine how the text challenges ideas of humanity and utopia. The two utopias are presented in The City and the Stars, with one branch of genetically engineered humans on Earth in each utopia. Their differences in approaches to challenges sets them apart. While examining the text literary and philosophical concepts of utopia and humanity will be used to better understand the text. The text shows us the significance of facing challenges. Moreover, that utopia, while desirable, is not for humankind as humanity's potential will not be reached when it resides in a utopia.  Humanity is defined by complex emotions that are hard to allow to exist in utopias.