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Utopia
In Thomas More's 1516 Utopia, the flaws of European society are revealed in typical Enlightenment style. That is, More champions individual rights and freedoms and disparages state or Church control. More seems particularly concerned with thought control and the prescription of social norms and behaviors. In Utopia, Raphael Hythloday describes a world that is only partly utopic. There is a degree of gender equity, at least compared with European sixteenth-century society. No lawyers are allowed in Utopia, which is certainly an idyllic idea assuming each individual is empowered with knowledge of the law. Such knowledge can, however, be inferred by the fact that "All laws are promulgated for this end, that every man may know his duty; and therefore the plainest and most obvious sense of the words is that which ought to be put upon them," (More 62).
In Utopia there is no private property either. The mistrust and disdain for private property is a hallmark of Utopia, which contrasts completely...
Here, More uses the lack of materialism to underscore the problems with private property and greed. More returns again and again to this idea and seems to appreciate the freedom from materialism that money implies. Yet in Utopia, people are not free to come and go as they please. The state monitors the movement of people even if it allows for free trade.
Poverty might not be a problem but freedom certainly is. There are strict laws enforcing social norms and codes of behavior. Even human sexuality is inhibited by the law, and somehow the state controls religious beliefs. The mandate to believe in God prevents any atheism, which is a brutal infringement on human rights and liberties. There can be no genuine freedom of religion if belief in a deity is mandatory. The contradictions of Utopia mirror those same contradictions and paradoxes More witnesses in sixteenth century European life.
Book Two, "Of their magistrates" reveals the political…
Utopia by Thomas More From the set of attributes that Thomas More employs to describe Utopia, the most likely to be the target of significant social critique is that of communal property. Indeed, the issue of property was a major tenant in the development of British law -- and ultimately, in systems of law established in many other lands. Moreover, property ownership has been a key point of departure with regard
The literary methods that More employs are analogous to those utilized by Galileo Galilei just over a half century later. Galileo also approached a delicate subject with regard to the Church in a hypothetical and fictitious manner. He had uncovered valid and relatively conclusive evidence that the earth revolved around the sun. Yet, this discovery was a direct contradiction of preexisting clerical interpretations of the scriptures. Even though Galileo was
Utopia's origin in the More's and hopes of the individual author's times. Utopia is the place where all our needs are balanced by abundant resources. Utopia is believed to be a perfect state, a place which has social justice, political peace, and moral harmony in all aspects of life. If such a place did exist, how would it be structured? How would people work and live together in harmony, while at
Thomas More's Utopia Thomas More's "Utopia" Thomas More's Utopia and Religious Toleration More than an account of a fictional society, Thomas More's Utopia is a criticism of early Renaissance European society. On the island of "Utopia" people live together in peace and harmony, experience freedom and prosperity, and worship any religious tradition they see fit. Thomas More used the book to criticize the political, economic, legal, and religious aspects of European society in
And so the ache for meaning goes unrelieved." Utopia as a philosophy is also reflected in McMillian's discussion of the nature of this concept in the post-modern society or the society that is information technology-oriented. He asserted that "...utopia doesn't always have to be a particular type of society; it can also be a process, a liberated way of thinking, an exercise in collective self-definition," an argument that presents
The Peripheral Narrator The narrator of the novel Utopia (Moore) is, in fact, its author. Ever since the real New World's discovery by explorers, Christopher Columbus and many others like him started penning first-person narratives of the new landscapes they stumbled upon. Thomas More was simply emulating such narratives to give an authentic feel to his work. Readers feel they're reading a real, authentic tale: "It would take too long to repeat