The Utopian Philosophy of Shangri-La in James Hiltons...

The Utopian Philosophy of Shangri-La in James Hiltons Lost Horizon For some people life may not be satisfactory. Life has many troubles including death, pain, and suffering. It leaves little hope. There are ways in which people can live to have a good life. This method of how a person should live is viewed differently thoughout the world. James Hilton represents this combination of ideas and cultures in the novel, Lost Horizon (1933). This novel tells the tale of four distinctively different people retreating from a war zone. In their retreat they are kidnapped and taken by plane deep into the Himalayan mountain wilderness. Little did they know that here in the confines of the mountains there is a paradise. This paradise is called†¦show more content†¦The mental environment of the people of Shangri-La is the search of knowledge. Platonism, the theory of Plato, maintains that to live the good life, one must first acquire certain kinds of knowledge. This theory represents the environment of Shangri-La, searching for knowledge. Hilton portrays the Shangri-Lites search of knowledge through their extensive library which contains the worlds best literature (95). This great asset of Shangri-La represents the theory of Plato and showed that Shangri-La is a place abundant is Platonic philosophy. The second philosophical view aiding in the setting of Shangri-La is the theory of Aristotle. Aristotle believed that the good life is one of balance. The people of Shangri-La also lived this way claiming that our prevalent belief is moderation. (74). The people are moderately sober, moderately chaste, and moderately honest (75). Moderation is abundant throughout the setting of Shangri-La, and the people claim that moderation [is], yknow-- the motto of the firm (180), whereas firm represents Shangri-La. This principle makes for a considerable degree of happiness (74). This relates to the view of Aristotle, that the good life is a life of happiness. The happiness of Shangri-La is portrayed as one of the pleasantest communities, (108) wh ere the inhabitants are courteous and carefree (108) and where one will doubtless find great happiness (198). Even in happiness there is moderation. Shangri-La