Student Paper F992-09
Fall 1999, Section I
Reviewer Comments

Our Journey towards Utopia

Man's journey from a cave dwelling Neanderthal to a space faring society is an almost incomprehensible story of change. There exists no other similar tale in nature for comparison. As civilization marched onward through the seventeenth and eighteenth century society's advances increased in frequency and intensity. The individual began to stand out. A single person began to mean something, rather than be part of a 'herd'. Sweeping scientific and philosophical advancement changed the status and quality of life of the individual, for the better.

Around the turn of the eighteenth century, the scientific revolution was in full swing. New ways of dealing with our world were becoming evident, allowing much more accurate and developed theories about a variety of things; The printing press made it possible to distribute these ideas, allowing access to anyone with literary skills. The individual could now posses the power of knowledge. Ignorance is very powerful, and eliminating it changes worlds. Throughout history the status of man has repeatedly and aggressively changed with greater access to knowledge. In the era of the printing press single people begin to stand out for their contribution to society. Louis Pasteur discovered the source of disease, and health improved greatly. Galileo accurately charted the bodies in the solar system, and physics began to take shape. Diderot published his encyclopedia, making available to the common man much of what was known at the time. The individual person was beginning to make a difference for society as a whole.

The industrial revolutions that took place in the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also changed the individual's life. Improvement in the life and status of the individual came in two forms at this time. With an industrial base, society was now able to turn out larger quantities of necessities, like cloth and finished goods. This made items cheaper and more accessible for the average person. This also meant that the individual was now dependant on someone else for finished goods. As society moved away from a totally agrarian setup to a more city centric one, a person was no longer a self-centered unit. People could now devote their life's pursuits to something other than staying alive. The second big improvement is in the lifestyle of the individual: People could now choose to live in the city and involve themselves in the economy. As countries began to embrace Adam Smith's philosophies, capitalism started to take hold. It became feasible for an individual to create wealth for themselves. There was still a class of poor people, and a class of rich people, but there was a growth in the middle class. An individual could move out from under the 'ownership' of the aristocracy without really joining the ranks of the aristocrats.

The status of women changed considerably in this time as well. With the rise of the individuals independence came a greater role in society for women. They had new access to information, and transportation advances such as the bicycle allowed them to move about on their own will. With the industrial revolution, women were also beginning to work, and contribute to the family's earnings. In fact, because a woman could work, a family was not always necessary. Women began to have the means of supporting themselves, gaining huge independence from men.

New philosophies from Locke, and Rousseau brought about constitutional style governments across Europe. The citizen was now protected under the law, and in some countries the citizens actually made the laws. The beginning of democracy in some of the western European countries meant two things. The first is that the individual could change the government. Your average person could make a difference in the ruling body that oversees all in the country. This is a huge change from the indifferent monarchical dynasties that had permeated the land for so long. The second effect of democracy is that the average citizen, in theory, could actually take part in governing the people. This would have been incomprehensible less than a century before.

New ways of thinking and new ideas built on each other to produce a huge boom in individual status in western civilization. Individual lives became important, their contributions to society as a whole began to be measurable: Unfortunately, this meant that a single person could wreck society too, as in the case of Adolph Hitler. On the whole, though, the individuals improved status has better quality of life and an improved understanding of our world.