Lindsay G
STL 310
STL310 NOVEL
The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat
,Characters
Name Role/ Characteristics
Professor Nicholas Caritat Has reasonable optimism not blissful optimism
False name: Dr Pangloss He has confidence in the future of humanity
Is a man of enlightenment informed by philosophers of the 18 th
century
Described as a ‘a scholar, a historian of ides and a philosopher’
His children saw him as an escapist -concerned with the past
and future rather than the present (Chapter 2)
Marcus NC’s son
In a guerilla camp fighting for the Hand
To be reasonable was to solve problems – wanted a way to
reduce the world’s complexity to some manageable order
Thought the point of religion was to make difficult questions
seem impossible (Chapter 2)
Eliza NC’s daughter
Underground human rights activist
To be reasonable was to live by principles: to use people was to
misuse them, no-on should be treated as a means to someone
else’s end or to serve some larger social purpose
Defends the persecuted/ each individual victim of oppression
(Chapter 2)
Susanna NC’s deceased wife
Superpassion for caring for and protecting her family
To be reasonable was to be prudent
Justin Militaria
The military officer who takes NC to the optician in prison
Former student of NC
Student political activist
Leading member of the more extreme wing of the guerilla
resistance movement (Chapter 3)
Offered Marcus and Eliza the image of a philosopher out to
change, not just interpret, the world
NC and Justin never saw eye to eye during university
Dr Orville Globulus Militaria
Was at university with NC
Psychiatrist turned philosopher
Arch-opportunist – once flirted with Handism but was now the
government’s most loyal and trusted ideologist and apologist
Self-proclaimed Pessimist??
Priest Militaria
Goes to visit NC in prison
Believes that NC is selling people false hope of equality and
freedom
Is of the view that governing institutions and religion are
needed to keep people in check/ reduce violence
Stella Yardstick NC meets her on the plane to Utilitaria
Utilitarian diplomat who had been working in Militaria
Politically neutral (diplomat)
Priscilla’s daughter
Gregory Maximand Utilitarian scholar that NC met at a conference
Works at Calcula University in the Department of History
(Department of Futurology)
Patriotic
Knows the Pm and Lord Chief Justice Tantamount personally
Charmain Maximand Gregory’s wife
Perfect housewife
Greg’s research assistant, personal, social, and political
secretary
,Graham Maximand Gregory’s teenage son
Ned Erskin Act Party
Spokesman for the populist faction of the Act party
Speaking in parliament on abortion issue
According to Gregory is the party’s most powerful demagogue
(a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the
desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using
rational argument)
Eustace Legge Act Party
According to Greg is an intellectual but still a demagogue
Milton Candew Rule Party
Leader of the ‘minimalist’ faction of the party – believe in the
quick simple fix; achieve maximum happiness by removing
frustration, eliminating all desires that can’t be satisfied
Wants to put Frustricide in the water to elicit mass happiness
Hilda Juggernaut Prime Minister of Utiliaria
Priscilla Yardstick Minister of Health in Utilitaria
Stella’s mom (diplomat)
Judge Tantamount The Lord Chief Justice in Utilitaria
Judge Barker Utilitaria
Judge Growler Utilitaria
Clarissa Preen Defence Counsel for the five Bigotarians
Augustus Rapier Prosecution Counsel against Bigotarians
Felicity Hawk Chief Prosecutor
Utilitarian evangelist
Viewed the past as a burden upon the efficient management of
the justice system
The Eye Utilitaria
Bigotarian captor
Reverend Goddington Communitarian clergyman
Thwaite Minister of the Communican Church
Offers to help resolve the conflict between the Utilitarian
Government and the Bigotarians to get NC released
Part of the Bees community living in the Hill of the Bees
Thelma Thwaite Goddington’s wife
Social worker with a speciality in repairing family breakdowns
Jonathan (Jonny) Cypselus Rock star
Alias William Mid 20s
Performed in a rock opera called Yellow Stockings and Red
Pyjamas
Was excommunicated as a Malvolian and a Stalactite
The Chairman Communitaria
Malvolian official
The Priest Communitaria
Stalactite official
The Rector Director at Unidiversity in Communitaria
Fellow philosopher
Professor Grenzen Head of the Ethnic Studies Department at Unidiversity
Professor Glaube Head of the Religious Studies Department at Unidiversity
Philomena Bodkin Professor of Gender Studies
Indigen community
Accuses NC of sexual harassment
Benjamin and Constance Two young students at Unidiversity
Ben is a Indigen
Constance is a Bee
They want to get married but face social discouragement
as it will be a mixed-community marriage
Have a ‘secret revolutionary club’ to discuss alternative ideas
to Communitaria (a dangerous and illegal activity)
,Karl and Fred Proletaria
Fictional/ dream characters based on Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels
Fred works in a clothing factory
Leon Libertaria
Works reception at Pilgrim’s Rest Hotel ]
Has an Economic degree
Was Professor Tipster’s student
Professor Tipster Economic professor at Libertaria’s University
Gives a lecture entitled: The Theory and Practice of Money
Osgood Micklethrust Libertaria
Tipster’s stockbroker
Tells NC he is an idealist
Dr Julius Stuffington Libertaria’s Psychiatric Congress
Professor Cyril Syndrome Libertaria’s Psychiatric Congress
Offers NC/Globulus a visiting post at the University hospital
Jugula Hildebrand Prime minister of Libertaria
Head Porter Nicknamed Napolean
Supports privatisation of hospitals
Aristotle Has plutomanic amnesia in the psychiatric ward
Seneca Suffers from Orexiphobia (fear of desires) in the psychiatric
ward
Used to work for an advertising agency writing jingles
Mia Kleptomaniac in the psychiatric ward
Used to work at the supermarket
Had a baby in prison
, Foreword
Quote Analysis
All is for the best in the best of all possible NC is not naïve; he does not believe that he
worlds lives in the best of all possible worlds
He is convinced that moral progress can lead
the world toward a better future (reasonable
optimism)
It is ideas, or, more precisely, theories which The novel is not focused necessarily on the
are the true historical figures here – characters but rather the places NC travels
utilitarian, communitarian, Marxist, to and therefore, the philosophical theories
libertarian, feminist, and natural rights that guide the various societies
theories
The trial in Utilitaria presents the classical
problem of the condemnation of those who
may be innocent to augment the happiness
of society
The encounter with minority groups in
Communitaria shows how cultural relativism
tends to conceal power relations
The laws of the market and the privatisation
of public services in Libertaria reveal the
logics of inequality at the heart of neoliberal
thought
The book should be read as social critique, or The book draws out all the qualities of each
maybe even as a method for social critique, theory extremely
since its deployment of reasoning, and
pursuit of its practical implications to the
point of absurdity, become tools for thinking
and acting
A refuge where the memory of his
persecutors cannot pursue him
Introduction
Quote Analysis
Philosophers typically think that serious Steven Lukes combines philosophy and
thinking consists in argument storytelling in the book but writing about
what it would be like to live in a world in
which one or other of these theories was the
prevalent world view and organizing
principle: Utilitarianism, communitarianism,
Marxism, Libertarianism, egalitarianism, etc.
What are the consequences of organising
social and political life on the basis of one of
several incompatible ‘values’ or ‘conceptions
of the goof’ to the exclusion of others
The fable of Professor Caritat’s voyage is a
dystopian satire, the point of which is not
fairness to its subject matter
1 Arrest
Quote Analysis
He was a scholar, a historian of ideas, and a Believed that if he did not have political
philosopher – and thus a person, he hoped, involvement, he was not going to be
of no significance considered for arrest despite the fate of
many of his friends/ other thinkers
As one’s eyesight fails, the role of the Upon arrest in Militaria, NC’s glasses were
STL 310
STL310 NOVEL
The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat
,Characters
Name Role/ Characteristics
Professor Nicholas Caritat Has reasonable optimism not blissful optimism
False name: Dr Pangloss He has confidence in the future of humanity
Is a man of enlightenment informed by philosophers of the 18 th
century
Described as a ‘a scholar, a historian of ides and a philosopher’
His children saw him as an escapist -concerned with the past
and future rather than the present (Chapter 2)
Marcus NC’s son
In a guerilla camp fighting for the Hand
To be reasonable was to solve problems – wanted a way to
reduce the world’s complexity to some manageable order
Thought the point of religion was to make difficult questions
seem impossible (Chapter 2)
Eliza NC’s daughter
Underground human rights activist
To be reasonable was to live by principles: to use people was to
misuse them, no-on should be treated as a means to someone
else’s end or to serve some larger social purpose
Defends the persecuted/ each individual victim of oppression
(Chapter 2)
Susanna NC’s deceased wife
Superpassion for caring for and protecting her family
To be reasonable was to be prudent
Justin Militaria
The military officer who takes NC to the optician in prison
Former student of NC
Student political activist
Leading member of the more extreme wing of the guerilla
resistance movement (Chapter 3)
Offered Marcus and Eliza the image of a philosopher out to
change, not just interpret, the world
NC and Justin never saw eye to eye during university
Dr Orville Globulus Militaria
Was at university with NC
Psychiatrist turned philosopher
Arch-opportunist – once flirted with Handism but was now the
government’s most loyal and trusted ideologist and apologist
Self-proclaimed Pessimist??
Priest Militaria
Goes to visit NC in prison
Believes that NC is selling people false hope of equality and
freedom
Is of the view that governing institutions and religion are
needed to keep people in check/ reduce violence
Stella Yardstick NC meets her on the plane to Utilitaria
Utilitarian diplomat who had been working in Militaria
Politically neutral (diplomat)
Priscilla’s daughter
Gregory Maximand Utilitarian scholar that NC met at a conference
Works at Calcula University in the Department of History
(Department of Futurology)
Patriotic
Knows the Pm and Lord Chief Justice Tantamount personally
Charmain Maximand Gregory’s wife
Perfect housewife
Greg’s research assistant, personal, social, and political
secretary
,Graham Maximand Gregory’s teenage son
Ned Erskin Act Party
Spokesman for the populist faction of the Act party
Speaking in parliament on abortion issue
According to Gregory is the party’s most powerful demagogue
(a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the
desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using
rational argument)
Eustace Legge Act Party
According to Greg is an intellectual but still a demagogue
Milton Candew Rule Party
Leader of the ‘minimalist’ faction of the party – believe in the
quick simple fix; achieve maximum happiness by removing
frustration, eliminating all desires that can’t be satisfied
Wants to put Frustricide in the water to elicit mass happiness
Hilda Juggernaut Prime Minister of Utiliaria
Priscilla Yardstick Minister of Health in Utilitaria
Stella’s mom (diplomat)
Judge Tantamount The Lord Chief Justice in Utilitaria
Judge Barker Utilitaria
Judge Growler Utilitaria
Clarissa Preen Defence Counsel for the five Bigotarians
Augustus Rapier Prosecution Counsel against Bigotarians
Felicity Hawk Chief Prosecutor
Utilitarian evangelist
Viewed the past as a burden upon the efficient management of
the justice system
The Eye Utilitaria
Bigotarian captor
Reverend Goddington Communitarian clergyman
Thwaite Minister of the Communican Church
Offers to help resolve the conflict between the Utilitarian
Government and the Bigotarians to get NC released
Part of the Bees community living in the Hill of the Bees
Thelma Thwaite Goddington’s wife
Social worker with a speciality in repairing family breakdowns
Jonathan (Jonny) Cypselus Rock star
Alias William Mid 20s
Performed in a rock opera called Yellow Stockings and Red
Pyjamas
Was excommunicated as a Malvolian and a Stalactite
The Chairman Communitaria
Malvolian official
The Priest Communitaria
Stalactite official
The Rector Director at Unidiversity in Communitaria
Fellow philosopher
Professor Grenzen Head of the Ethnic Studies Department at Unidiversity
Professor Glaube Head of the Religious Studies Department at Unidiversity
Philomena Bodkin Professor of Gender Studies
Indigen community
Accuses NC of sexual harassment
Benjamin and Constance Two young students at Unidiversity
Ben is a Indigen
Constance is a Bee
They want to get married but face social discouragement
as it will be a mixed-community marriage
Have a ‘secret revolutionary club’ to discuss alternative ideas
to Communitaria (a dangerous and illegal activity)
,Karl and Fred Proletaria
Fictional/ dream characters based on Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels
Fred works in a clothing factory
Leon Libertaria
Works reception at Pilgrim’s Rest Hotel ]
Has an Economic degree
Was Professor Tipster’s student
Professor Tipster Economic professor at Libertaria’s University
Gives a lecture entitled: The Theory and Practice of Money
Osgood Micklethrust Libertaria
Tipster’s stockbroker
Tells NC he is an idealist
Dr Julius Stuffington Libertaria’s Psychiatric Congress
Professor Cyril Syndrome Libertaria’s Psychiatric Congress
Offers NC/Globulus a visiting post at the University hospital
Jugula Hildebrand Prime minister of Libertaria
Head Porter Nicknamed Napolean
Supports privatisation of hospitals
Aristotle Has plutomanic amnesia in the psychiatric ward
Seneca Suffers from Orexiphobia (fear of desires) in the psychiatric
ward
Used to work for an advertising agency writing jingles
Mia Kleptomaniac in the psychiatric ward
Used to work at the supermarket
Had a baby in prison
, Foreword
Quote Analysis
All is for the best in the best of all possible NC is not naïve; he does not believe that he
worlds lives in the best of all possible worlds
He is convinced that moral progress can lead
the world toward a better future (reasonable
optimism)
It is ideas, or, more precisely, theories which The novel is not focused necessarily on the
are the true historical figures here – characters but rather the places NC travels
utilitarian, communitarian, Marxist, to and therefore, the philosophical theories
libertarian, feminist, and natural rights that guide the various societies
theories
The trial in Utilitaria presents the classical
problem of the condemnation of those who
may be innocent to augment the happiness
of society
The encounter with minority groups in
Communitaria shows how cultural relativism
tends to conceal power relations
The laws of the market and the privatisation
of public services in Libertaria reveal the
logics of inequality at the heart of neoliberal
thought
The book should be read as social critique, or The book draws out all the qualities of each
maybe even as a method for social critique, theory extremely
since its deployment of reasoning, and
pursuit of its practical implications to the
point of absurdity, become tools for thinking
and acting
A refuge where the memory of his
persecutors cannot pursue him
Introduction
Quote Analysis
Philosophers typically think that serious Steven Lukes combines philosophy and
thinking consists in argument storytelling in the book but writing about
what it would be like to live in a world in
which one or other of these theories was the
prevalent world view and organizing
principle: Utilitarianism, communitarianism,
Marxism, Libertarianism, egalitarianism, etc.
What are the consequences of organising
social and political life on the basis of one of
several incompatible ‘values’ or ‘conceptions
of the goof’ to the exclusion of others
The fable of Professor Caritat’s voyage is a
dystopian satire, the point of which is not
fairness to its subject matter
1 Arrest
Quote Analysis
He was a scholar, a historian of ideas, and a Believed that if he did not have political
philosopher – and thus a person, he hoped, involvement, he was not going to be
of no significance considered for arrest despite the fate of
many of his friends/ other thinkers
As one’s eyesight fails, the role of the Upon arrest in Militaria, NC’s glasses were
