Society in Utopia by Thomas More
In his book Utopia, Thomas More examines a society that seems to be the ideal living situation for human beings. The main thesis of Utopia is his solution to many of the problems that are being faced in English society in the early 16th century.
In forming his ideas for the country of Utopia, More points out many of the problems that he sees in English society. One of the most striking examples of English social problems that More points out is the punishment of thieves. In England, thieves are punished with death. There is no distinction between the severity of crimes in the justice system and a man who steals a loaf of bread is given the same sentence as a man who kills. According to More, "this method of dealing with thieves is both unjust and socially undesirable." (More, 44) More sees the system of capital punishment to be unfair to the perpetrator and by no means an effective deterrent to the crime of theft.
In order to prevent theft, More feels that the people need to be given a way to exist that alleviates the need to steal. He says " ...no penalty on earth will stop people from stealing, if it's their only way of getting food." (More, 44) This argument seems to be a direct attack on the English class system. Because English society is made up of mainly two classes, the wealthy and the peasantry, it seems next to impossible to make a society in which all people are able to exist comfortably. More points out that people are compelled to steal because of their environment. In England in the 16th century, many peasant farmers were being driven from their land because wealthy land owners were turning cultivated land into pastures in order to raise more sheep, which in return ...
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...ate provisions and spend the rest of their time expanding their minds and maintaining their health, for without a healthy body how can one truly experience pleasure? Unlike England, everyone in Utopia is allowed to feel pleasure, not just the wealthy. (More, 95-98)
Thomas More seems to have a good idea of what the perfect society would be like, however whether it would really work is another matter. Whether greed is a product of capitalism or not is still a question, but it does exist and people are driven to accumulate wealth. England may have been a society that strictly enforced a class system and was driven by capitalism, but could a society really survive under More's model?
Works Cited:
More, Thomas. 1995. Utopia: Latin Text and English Translation, edited by George M. Logan, Robert M. Adams and Clarence Miller. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Utopia is a term invented by Sir Thomas More in 1515. However, he traces the root two Greek words outopia and eutopia which means a place does not exist and a fantasy, invention. It is widely accepted that Plato was to first to picture a utopian order. In his masterpiece, “Republic”, he formed the principles of ideal commonsense and his utopia (Hertzler, 1922:7). After the classical age, Sir Thomas More assumed to be the first of the utopian writers in early modern period. As a humanist, he gave the world in his “Utopia” a vision of a perfect communistic commonwealth (the history of utopian thought). Utopia’s influence on contemporary and rival scholars is so deep that it has given its name to whole class of literature. Following the appearance of More’s Utopia, there was a lack of Utopian literature for nearly a century (Hertzler, 1922:7). This period ended with the works of Francis Bacon, Campanelle and Harrington. These early modern utopians, being the children of Renaissance, filled with a love of knowledge and high respect for the newly truths of science. Thus, they believed that the common attainment of knowledge means the largest participation of all members of society in its joys and benefits. After the period of early Utopians, continuation of a sprit of French Revolution and initial signs of industrial revolution resulted in the emergence of a new group of Utopians called Socialist Utopians (Hertzler, 1922: 181). The word “Socialism” seems to have been first used by one of the leading Utopian Socialists, St Simon. In politics utopia is a desire that never come true neither now nor afterwards, a wish that is not based on social forces (material conditions and production) and is not supported by the growth and development of political, class forces. This paper discusses the validity of this claim, tries to present and evaluate the political reforms, if any, offered by Socialist Utopians.
More, Sir Thomas. Utopia. 1516. . Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000, 1: 1765-1771.
In order to create structure in a society, one must ensure the care of its people. In the imaginary civilization of Utopia, the main strategy is to "get through life as comfortably and cheerfully as we can, and help other members of our species to do so too" (More 92). More focuses on the well being of its citizens to create happiness and order within the society. He does this by initiating the idea of human rights and equality. With the sense of equality in society people can help each other to live blissfully, and stop trying to become better than their neighbors.
Thomas More was born in London in 1478. He studied at Oxford where he took a profound love of classical literature. In Utopia, More shows his own skills in humanism. In this story, modeled after Plato's Republic, More examines his culture against a hypothetical culture he invents. His Utopia varies greatly from both his society and our society today. Four ways Utopia differs from our society are social system, attitude towards jewelry, marriage customs, and religion.
be like. Since the Utopia of Thomas More there have been several novels in which the
The last important item when it comes to the Utopian system is money. There is no money in Utopia just as communism is a moneyless society. The Utopians also do not fetishize precious metals like gold and silver. In the current technological state, gold presents very little utility, and they treat it as such. What the Utopians exactly say is “But Nature granted to gold and silver no function with which we cannot easily dispense. Human folly has made them precious because they are rare.” Marx was critical of the fetishizing of metal monies and the role they overtake in the social relations of people.
Sir Thomas More composed the book Utopia in the year 1516. Utopia looks into many of the problems that faced England in the sixteenth-century and what a society would look like in order to relieve those complications. The Utopian society is brought about through conversations between the characters Thomas More, his friend Peter Giles, and the traveling philosopher Raphael Hythloday. Giles and More are quickly impressed by the level of travel that Hythloday had experienced; they want to know what he has seen and heard from other regions in regards to government and civilization. In More’s Utopia, we will uncover some of the problems that England was facing at the time and see where the Utopian commonwealth would do to alleviate said problems,
"Book 2: Of Their Traveling of the Utopians." Utopia by Thomas More. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Utopia is a reflection of More’s thoughts, feelings and opinions on politics and society at the time. While it may appear that Utopia is a representation of More’s ideal society and world, only some aspects are supported and agreed upon by More. He generally opposes and objects to certain trends of the Utopian society which he feels are ‘ridiculous.’ Despite this More still provides a comment on the social standards, ethics, operations and functions of the time. In doing this he presents his passion of ideas and art.
The Utopians live a very simple lifestyle. They work, and in their spare time play games, read, and socialize. Other forms of entertainment, such as gambling and hunting are looked down upon. They only eat what is necessary, and their houses are built simply and furnished only with what is necessary. Thus, their consumption is very low. Utopians do not need material possessions for happiness. Happiness for them comes out of living an honest life and working hard to produce for themselves and for the entire nation.
Thomas More’s Utopia and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World , are novels about societies that differ from our own. Though the two authors have chosen different approaches to create an alternate society, both books have similarities which represent the visions of men who were moved to great indignation by the societies in which they lived. Both novels have transcended contemporary problems in society , they both have a structured, work based civilization and both have separated themselves from the ways of past society. It is important when reading these novels to focus on the differences as well as the similarities. The two novels differ in their views of love, religion, and the way to eliminate social classes. These differences seem to suggest that if we do not come closer to More’s goal in Utopia, we will end up in a society much like that of Huxley’s Brave New World.
Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society, along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime, are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfare and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years. Crime constructs us as a society whilst society, simultaneously determines what is criminal. Since society is always changing, how we see crime and criminal behavior is changing, thus the way in which we punish those criminal behaviors changes.
Frank E. Manuel and Manuel Frtizie, Utopian Thought in the Western World. London: Belknap Press 1982
Because they are described in a detailed manner, the Utopia book itself seems to be enough to be a blueprint for the future. However, Thomas More clearly stated that he just wishes Europeans to follow some good qualities of the Utopian society—“there are many things in the Utopian commonwealth that in our own societies I would wish rather than expect to see” (97)—because he himself knows that it is impossible for any country to be like Utopia. This is apparent, because Utopia is possible on the premise that every factor comes together to create this ideal society. Even the geography has to contribute to this premise, as Hythloday explains the geography of Utopia as the place where strangers cannot enter without one of them (39). Moreover, from diligent and compassionate Utopians’ characteristics and their ways of life, they seem to be successful in reaching the fullest of every aspect of their life including physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional, when it is hardly possible to even have one person like that in real life.
Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge, MA: Belknap-Harvard Press, 1979.