This paper examines the significance and the role of
philosophy in both Plato's version of utopia and Orwell's horrific version
of the future in 1984. It suggests that both
societies, rather than one being characterized as a philosophical utopia and the other a place where independent though is discouraged, both manifest a form of totalitarian
philosophy. The citizens of both societies are encouraged to reject rather than accept doctrine passed down from the ruling class, and that philosophy is used as a means of control rather than of argument.