Possible worlds

The utopian novel L´An deux mille quatre cent quarante. Rêve s´il en fut jamais by the French author Louis-Sébastien Mercier (1740-1814) was the first imaginary portrayal of an ideal society projected into the remote future. It reveals a vision of twenty-fifth century Paris, and a world transformed into a community of general happiness, well-being and progress.

In searching for answers for the problem of evil and the conditions of happiness on earth in his contemporary society, Mercier´s utopia also offers a generally valid analysis concerning the means and aims of a happy life. On the other hand, the present study indicates that Mercier´s vision of the "best of possible worlds" also reveals a great deal about the reasons why the prevailing eighteenth-century conception of happiness, founded on the Enlightenment ideal of rational control, already contained the seeds of its own destruction.

This investigation by Riikka Forsström sheds light on Mercier´s utopian vision both as critical mirror image analyzing its own society, and as an exploration of possible futures. In his utopia, Mercier deals with a wide range of subjects, from the needfulness of political reforms, and economic theories, to the collision of a spiritual with a more secular- scientific world view, and even addresses women´s position in society. He makes us reflect on the limits of the possible and how the possibilities could be transformed as part of a living culture.

Keywords: ideal society, future, visions, happiness, utopia, values, France, 18th century, Louis-Sébastien Mercier