Ideal institutions channel human nature constructively.
유일국에서 시민들은 이름 대신 숫자를 가졌다.
Day 3 · 목표 ⭐
More's genius was designing a society that did not demand perfection from its citizens but instead created conditions in which ordinary human beings, given the right environment, would naturally behave well.
D-503은 유리로 된 도시에 살았으며, 그곳에서는 모든 시간이 '시간표'에 의해 정해지고, 행복이라는 이름 아래 사생활이라는 개념이 공식적으로 폐지되었다.
2Reading· 오늘의 본문
We · Yevgeny Zamyatin · 1924
In Utopia, the fictional island Thomas More imagined, people of different faiths lived side by side. There was no single state religion. Instead, the law created a space where belief was a private matter, and public life focused on shared reason and community welfare. This system did not try to force a perfect, uniform belief onto every citizen. It understood that human nature seeks meaning, but can turn violent when that search is suppressed. By allowing religious tolerance, Utopia's institutions channeled this deep human need away from conflict and toward peaceful coexistence. The society was designed so that ordinary people, with their natural desires, could live well together without being saints.
B2 · 128 wordsavg 25.6 w/s
More's Utopia presents a radical thesis on human nature and social design, particularly regarding religious belief. The Utopian constitution, while advocating for a rational deism, explicitly forbids coercing belief and protects the right to private worship, provided it does not disrupt public order. This institutional framework is More's profound insight: it acknowledges the innate human drive for transcendence and community belonging as fundamental, yet potentially divisive, forces. Rather than demanding doctrinal purity—a demand that often corrupts human nature into fanaticism—the system creates conditions in which this spiritual impulse is constructively channeled. It offers a communal structure of reason and mutual aid, making virtuous public behavior the natural outcome of social participation. Thus, Utopia suggests that institutions do not create perfect people, but they can expertly sculpt the raw material of human nature towards harmony, with religious tolerance being a masterstroke in that design. What makes Utopia endure as a work of literature is precisely this refusal to offer easy consolation — it demands that readers sit with the discomfort of a world that does not resolve neatly, and find their own position within it.
C1 · 170 wordsavg 34.0 w/s
3Vocabulary· 핵심 어휘 & 연습
genius
천재성, 비상한 재능
More's genius was in designing a society that worked with human nature.
designing
설계하다, 고안하다
He was interested in designing better political systems.
demand
요구하다
The system did not demand impossible virtue from its people.
perfection
완벽, 완전
It was a society not built on human perfection.
conditions
조건, 환경
The right social conditions encouraged natural cooperation.
Activity 1 · 빈칸 채우기5 questions
1. Every hour of D-503's life was carefully ____ by the Table of Hours.
2. The ____ of privacy did not exist in the One State.
3. Individual names were ____ and replaced with numbers.
4. The glass walls guaranteed there was no ____ for citizens.
5. The State was ____ declared to represent perfect happiness.