![]() No opportunities for seduction, no secret meeting-places. There are also no wine-taverns, no ale-houses, no brothels, The island, s/he must work in order to eat: Even when a person visits another town on Someone who leaves his or her town and workplace without permission Rather than a society in which many work to sustain public life for aĬommunity, labor serves as a means of social cohesion and control. In contrast to the Republic, More's Utopia seeks toĬreate a largely classless society (with the key exception of slaves), Led only by the soldiers and guardians of the Republic who are alsoĮxempt from manual labor, all the Utopians share in the goods producedĪnd all work as farmers orĬraftsmen" (p. (1983) illuminates this key distinction: "Whereas the common life is Must work - and all must benefit from their communal labor. In this way, Utopia is different from Plato's Republic.Īll people (with the exception of a handful of scholars and officials) This leads to a second key principle: the universal nature of labor. Utopians produce only what the community needs to Because everyone hasĪ job producing basic staples of society, there is little reason for Used in chamber pots and slave fetters in Utopia. Gold and silver, prized among English possessions, are Shortages in this community because so few things have value, asĬompared to English society in which valued things are necessarily in Than cheerfulness, peace of mind, and freedom from anxiety? (p. Nobody ownsĪnything, but everyone is rich - for what greater wealth can there be Share, so there are never any poor men or beggars. Short, as long as the public storehouses are full. Where everything's under public ownership, no one has any fear of going Over those of the public that is, of other people. He's therefore compelled to give his own interests priority Out for himself, he'll starve to death, however prosperous his country Other 'republics' practically everyone knows that, if he doesn't look I've chosen to organize his narrative according Visualize the perfected story by sketching his recollection of aĭistant island: Utopia. ![]() Throughout the second book, Raphael helps More This is not mereįancy, Raphael reminds his friend the good life can be realized, if itĬan be visualized. No improvement in public life can occur without theĮlimination of social illness at its deepest level. 64)! Raphael concludes Book One of Utopiaīy responding that cures for social ills demand systematic healing of Perfect, until human beings are perfect - which I don't expect them toīe for quite a number of years" (p. Must try to make as little wrong as possible. Social reform is a pleasant ideal, but that conservatism is moreĪppropriate to these precarious days: "what you can't put right you Out, or merely treated as a figure of fun" (p. Merely tolerating one, is coincidental at best: "I'd be promptly thrown Raphael notes that the likelihood of a king acting as a philosopher, or Their strongly (and wrongly) held assumptions. That no king or court would tolerate a counselor who might challenge More asks if he might serve as counselor to some king, Raphael responds Raphael remains an outsider to civilization - despite his wisdom. "you create thieves, and then punish them for stealing" (p. Moreover, these ills produce a subjugated people: Ornamentation - all of these social ills lead to a sick society,Īccording to Raphael. Wasteful standing army, the practice of gambling and gratuitous The seizure of land by oligarchs, the maintenance of a In English society are executed when, instead, they should be pitiedĪnd helped. Raphael illustrates this rebuke by noting that thieves Even Tudor England offers little in the form Various communities around the globe - and that he finds most of them īefore long, it becomes clear that Raphael offers shrewd analysis of Populations but examples of wise social planning are not so easy toįind" (p. Who prey on human beings, snatch away their food, or devour whole ![]() After all, "There is never any shortage of horrible creatures Even monsters are hardly worthy ofĬoncern. Raphael is a traveler who has seen much of the world yet The booksīegin a conversation between Thomas More and Raphael (Hebrew for 'God Plato's Republic, a largely abstract dialogue about justice, Utopiaįocuses on politics and social organization in stark detail. New York, NY: Dover Thrift Edition.Īttempts to offer a practical response to the crises of the fifteenthĪnd sixteenth centuries by carefully defining an ideal republic. COMM 149F - Summary of Thomas More's Utopia
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