Utopias Are Part of Liberalism
Each of these three utopian philosophies is an outgrowth or extension of the philosophy of Classical Liberalism. Why? What's the connection? Each one promised the complete freedom of the individual; as the higher man evolved, he would be free to do whatever he liked. The development of these three utopias in the 1800's marks the end of the period of Classical Liberalism. With the introduction of the three industrial utopias, Classical Liberalism split apart. It wasn't enough just to believe in the goal of Liberalism, the freedom of the individual. The nature of the times forced people to decide on a philosophy of government, decide how best to achieve universal freedom; the believers in Liberalism were forced to embrace one of the three utopias. For many the choice was easy. Classical Liberalism was based on negative government, so Social Darwinism was the obvious answer. Others rejected Liberalism's idea of self-willed human being and turned to Marxian Socialism. And some turned to so-called "Rational Socialism" as best way of achieving the utopia of complete freedom. Classical Liberalism was no more.
However the term "Liberal" did not disappear. Those who embraced so-called "Rational Socialism" eventually came to be referred to as "Liberals"; so-called "Rational Socialism" became the new "Liberalism." Even today, the people we call "Liberals" still base many of their beliefs on the belief in this so-called "Rational Socialism" utopia.