Abstract

The theme of work appears in most of the utopian tradition. This essay intends to look into its meaning. So it examines some important theories (More, Campanella, Foigny, Veirasse ect.) united by a common feature: the work is at first a factor of moral rising, that is a duty concerning everibody. Then the essay continues analysing three famous cases of realized utopia (the "reductiones" of Jesuits in Paraguay, San Leucio in Caserta, the factory of New Lanark in Scotland) looking for underlining the necessary compromises between theoretical rigour and concrete needs.