The Golden Book, as useful as it is amusing,
about the best structure of the state and the new island “Utopia”.
07.02.1478 - 06.07.1535
zeichnung Hans Holbein d. J.
Thomas More sends greetings to Peter Aegidius
Dear Peter Aegidius, I am perhaps ashamed to send you almost a year later this book about the state of the Utopians, since you, no doubt, expected it in a month and a half, knowing that in this work I was spared the labor of inventing; on the other hand, I did not need to think at all about the plan, but only had to convey the story of Raphael, which I heard with you. I had no reason to work on an eloquent presentation - the narrator’s speech could not be refined, since it was conducted impromptu, without preparation; then, as you know, this speech came from a person who is not as versed in Latin as in Greek, and the closer my transmission would approach his careless simplicity, the closer it should be to the truth, and about it only I have to take care of one thing in this work and I do.
I confess, friend Peter, this ready-made material almost completely saved me from work, because thinking through the material and planning it would have required a lot of talent, a certain amount of scholarship and a certain amount of time and diligence; and if it were necessary to present the subject not only truthfully, but also eloquently, then I would not have enough time or diligence to do this. Now that the worries that would have caused me so much sweat had disappeared, I had only one thing left to do - simply write down what I heard, and this was not at all difficult; but still, to complete this “not at all difficult task,” my other affairs usually left me less than an insignificant amount of time. I constantly have to tinker with trials (I conduct some, listen to others, finish others as a mediator, and terminate others as a judge), or visit some people out of a sense of duty, others on business. And so, having sacrificed almost the entire day outside the home to others, I give the rest of it to my loved ones, but leave nothing for myself, that is, for literature.
Indeed, upon returning to your place, you need to talk with your wife, chat with the children, and talk with the servants. I consider all this to be work, since it needs to be done (if you don’t want to be a stranger in your home). In general, you should try to be as pleasant as possible towards those who are given to you as life partners, either by the providence of nature, or by the play of chance, or by your choice, but you should not spoil them with affection or by condescension making masters out of servants. Among the things I have listed, days, months, years pass. When should I write here? Meanwhile, I didn’t say anything about sleep, nor about dinner, which consumes no less time for many people than sleep itself - and it consumes almost half of their life. I gain myself only the time that I steal from sleep and food; of course, it is not enough, but still it represents something, so I, although slowly, finally finished “Utopia” and sent it to you, friend Peter, so that you read it and remind you if anything escaped me. True, in this regard I feel a certain confidence in myself and would even like to have intelligence and learning to the same extent as I have control of my memory, but still I do not rely so much on myself as to think that I could not forget anything.
Namely, my pet John Clement, who, as you know, was with us (I willingly allow him to be present at any conversation that could be of any benefit to him, since I expect in time beautiful fruits from that herb that began to turn green during his Greek and Latin studies), led me to great embarrassment. As far as I remember, Hythloday said that the Amaurot bridge, which spans the river Anidr, is five hundred steps long, but my John says that it should be reduced to two hundred; The width of the river, according to him, does not exceed three hundred paces. I ask you to rummage through your memory. If you have the same thoughts as him, then I will agree and admit my mistake. If you yourself don’t remember, then I will leave as I wrote, exactly what, in my opinion, I remember myself. Of course, I will make every effort to ensure that there is no deception in my book, but, on the other hand, in doubtful cases, I would rather tell a lie unwittingly than allow it of my own free will, since I prefer to be an honest person rather than a prudent one .
However, it will be easy to help this grief if you find out about it from Raphael himself, either personally or in writing, and this must also be done due to another difficulty that has arisen for us, I don’t know whose fault it is: whether it’s rather mine, or through your own, or through the fault of Raphael himself. Namely, it never occurred to us to ask, nor to him to say, in what part of the New World Utopia is located. I would, of course, be ready to atone for this omission with a fair amount of money from my own funds. After all, I am quite ashamed, on the one hand, not to know in which sea the island is located, about which I talk so much, and on the other hand, we have several people, and in particular one, a pious man and a theologian by profession, who is burning an amazing desire to visit Utopia, not out of empty desire or curiosity to look at new things, but to encourage and develop our religion, which successfully began there. In order to properly carry out this, he decided to first take measures to ensure that he was sent there by the pope and even that he was elected bishop of the Utopians; It doesn’t bother him at all that he has to achieve this rank through requests. He considers sacred such harassment, which is generated not by considerations of honor or profit, but by piety.
Therefore, I ask you, friend Peter, to contact Hythloday either personally, if you can conveniently do this, or to write in absentia and take measures to ensure that in my present work there is no deception or nothing true is omitted. And it’s almost better to show him the book itself. After all, no one else can, just like him, correct whatever mistakes there are, and he himself is not able to do this if he does not read to the end what I have written. Moreover, in this way you can understand whether he puts up with the fact that this essay was written by me, or accepts it reluctantly. After all, if he decided to describe his wanderings himself, then, probably, he would not want me to do it: in any case, I would not want, with my publication about the state of the Utopians, to anticipate the color and charm of novelty in his history.
However, to tell the truth, I myself have not yet fully decided whether I will publish a book at all. People's tastes are very diverse, their characters are capricious, their nature is extremely ungrateful, their judgments reach complete absurdity. Therefore, those who live pleasantly and cheerfully for their own pleasure seem to feel somewhat happier than those who torment themselves with worries about publishing something that can bring benefit or pleasure to some, while causing disgust or ingratitude to others. The vast majority do not know literature, many despise it. The ignorant rejects as rudeness everything that is not completely ignorant; semi-knowledgeable people reject as vulgarity everything that is not replete with ancient words; some like only rags, most only like their own. One is so gloomy that he does not allow jokes; another is so unwitty that he cannot bear wit; some are so devoid of mockery that they fear any hint of it, just as someone who has been bitten by a mad dog fears water; others are so fickle that while sitting they approve of one thing, and while standing they approve of another. Some sit in taverns and judge the talents of writers over glasses of wine, condemning with great authority everything they please, and pulling everyone for his writing like hair, while they themselves are safe and, as the Greek proverb says, outside shelling. These fellows are so smooth and shaved on all sides that they don’t even have a hair to grab onto. In addition, there are people so ungrateful that even after greatly enjoying a literary work, they still do not feel any special love for the author. They are quite reminiscent of those impolite guests who, having received a rich dinner in abundance, finally go home well-fed, without bringing any gratitude to the one who invited them. So now plan a feast at your own expense for people of such delicate taste, such varied moods and, moreover, for people so memorable and grateful.
Then its author, Thomas More, was an influential English statesman with a brilliant career. In 1529 he became Lord Chancellor of England, the first person in the state after the king. But in 1535 he acted as a decisive opponent of the transformation of the church, which, under the influence of the Reformation, was carried out by King Henry VIII. More refused to swear allegiance to the king as the head of the newly created English church, was accused of treason and was beheaded in 1535. Four centuries later, in 1935, the Catholic Church accepted Thomas More as one of its saints.
"Utopia" is written in the form of a conversation between More, his friend Aegidius and the traveler Hythlodeus. Hythloday saw the whole world and carefully observed life. Participating in the journey of Amerigo Vespucci, he was, at his request, left with several comrades “at the limits of the last journey.” After wandering across the seas and deserts, Hythloday ends up on the island of Utopia, where he discovers a state living according to fair laws, once established by the wise legislator Utop. To appreciate the impression that “Utopia” made on contemporaries, one must keep in mind that all this was written at the very beginning of the era of great discoveries, even before the novels of Defoe and Swift.
All the main ideas of “Utopia” in one way or another relate to two topics: criticism of the author’s contemporary European society and a description of the ideal state on the island of Utopia. This basically corresponds to dividing the entire work into two books.
In the first direction, Thomas More's central idea is that modern European states are instruments of the selfish interests of the rich:
“After repeated and attentive contemplation of all the currently prosperous states, I can swear that they appear to be nothing more than a kind of conspiracy of the rich, advocating under the name and sign of the state for their personal benefits.”
The real reason for this situation is private property and money:
“However, friend More, if I tell you my opinion honestly, then in my opinion, wherever there is private property, where everything is measured by money, the correct and successful course of state affairs is hardly ever possible.”
“...but if it (private property) remains, then the largest and best part of the population will forever remain with a bitter and inevitable burden of sorrows.”
As an example, “Utopia” deals with crime, which is attributed entirely to the depravity of the social system:
“In doing this, are you doing anything other than creating thieves and punishing them at the same time?”
The legislation of that time, which punished thieves with death, is recognized by More in Utopia as not only unjust, but also ineffective. Instead, Hythloday offers customs that he saw among the Polylerite people living in the mountains of Persia:
“In this regard, I have not observed a better order among any people...”
These customs consist in the fact that in Utopia, caught thieves are turned into state slaves. As a sign of their status, one ear is cut off. Lazy
“They are not so much punished with shackles as they are rewarded with blows.”
Finally, to prevent escapes in Utopia, denunciations are encouraged: a slave who reports such a plan receives freedom, a free one receives money. The caught runaway slave is executed, and the free one who helped him is enslaved.
“You can easily see how humane and convenient they (these laws) are,”
- the narrator concludes.
Thomas More contrasts the gloomy picture of the life of European states with the description of an ideal state on the island of Utopia. This is not a dry treatise on government or political economy, but a living picture of life. The clothes of the inhabitants, their activities and entertainment, the appearance of cities and temples are described. Thanks to this, it becomes clearer to us what features of this life More wants to highlight as the main ideas of his book.
Utopia is a republic governed by elected officials called "fathers" by its subjects. All life in this country invented by Thomas More is regulated by the state. There is no private property and money. The basis of the economy is universal labor conscription. And first of all, it is mandatory for everyone (or almost everyone) to work for a certain period of time in agriculture:
“All men and women have one common occupation - agriculture, from which no one is exempt.”
Citizens of Utopia who have reached a certain age are sent to work in the villages, and after they have worked there for 2 years, they move to the cities. In addition, everyone learns some kind of craft, which he does the rest of the time. Work in Utopia takes place under the supervision of officials:
“The main and almost exclusive occupation of siphogrants (one of the varieties of “fathers”) is to care and see that no one sits idle, but that everyone diligently works at his craft...”
The uniformity of population distribution is also regulated by the state through mass relocations:
“These sizes (of communities called families) are maintained by relocating into less populous families those who are superfluous in very large ones. If the overcrowding of the city generally exceeds the proper limits, then the Utopians will make up for the desolation of their other cities.”
“If some accident reduces the population of the Utopians’ own cities... then such a city is replenished by the return resettlement of citizens from the colonies.”
More's narrator sympathetically emphasizes the idea of uniformity and standardization of the way of life thus emerging on Utopia.
“As for clothing, with the exception of the fact that its appearance differs between persons of one sex or the other, as well as between single and married people, its cut remains the same, unchanged and constant at all times...”
The outerwear on Utopia is a cloak.
“The color of this cloak is the same throughout the island, and it is also the natural color of the wool.”
Thomas More emphasizes that this applies not only to clothing:
“There are fifty-four cities on the island, all extensive and magnificent; their language, customs, institutions and laws are exactly the same. The location of all of them is also the same, as far as the terrain allows.”
“Whoever knows at least one city will recognize all the cities of Utopia, they are all so similar to each other, since the nature of the area does not interfere with this.”
People on Utopia receive all consumer products from public warehouses, and everyone can take as much as they need. However, food in general is largely centralized:
“although no one is forbidden to dine at home, no one does it willingly, because it is considered indecent and stupid to waste labor on preparing inferior food when luxurious and plentiful food is ready in the palace so close by.”
What More is talking about here is voluntary common meals. But in describing them the narrator somehow gets confused and says:
“here (in the palaces) these families must lunch".
And More’s description of common meals on Utopia is more reminiscent of rationing than distribution according to need:
“Dishes of food are not served in a row, starting from the first place, but each best dish is presented first of all to all the elders, whose places are especially marked, and then the rest are served with this dish in equal shares.”
Shared meals are entirely consistent with the main ideas of the book: according to Thomas More, the life of an inhabitant of Utopia should take place in front of everyone.
“They don’t have a single wine shop, not a single pub; there is no brothel anywhere, no case of debauchery, not a single brothel, not a single illegal gathering; but being in front of everyone creates the need to spend all the time either in usual work or in decent rest.”
In houses -
“The doors are double-leaf, they quickly open with a light pressure and then, closing themselves, let anyone in - to such an extent the Utopians have eliminated private property. They even change their houses every ten years by lot.”
Anyone who wants to take a walk outside the city must take permission from his father, the wife from her husband, and the husband from his wife. Anyone traveling to another city must obtain permission from officials.
“They are sent simultaneously with a letter from the prince testifying to permission given for the journey and prescribing the day of return.”
“If anyone transgresses his limits on his own initiative, then, caught without the prince’s letter, he is subjected to shameful treatment: he is returned as a runaway and severely punished. Anyone who dares to do the same thing a second time turns into slavery.”
(More on slavery will be said later.)
In Thomas More's Utopia, individual monogamous marriage exists, but the story does not say whether it is at the request of the bride and groom, or whether the matter is decided by parents or officials. But the state strictly monitors the observance of chastity before marriage and the mutual fidelity of spouses. Guilty people are punished by being sold into slavery. Citizens of Utopia compare getting married to selling a horse, and on this basis, before marriage, the bride is shown naked to the groom, and the groom is shown to the bride, since when buying a horse, they remove its blanket!
Map of the imaginary island of Utopia, artist A. Ortelius, c. 1595
The inhabitants of Mora's Utopia are not burdened with hard work - they work only 6 hours a day, devoting the rest of the time to sciences, arts and “decent rest”. The explanation of how they, despite this, achieve abundance is this: in Europe the labor of the poor creates wealth, which for the most part goes to support the idle, but in Utopia everyone works. The list of idle people is very interesting: in the first place are women, then priests and monks, then landowners and their servants!
Citizens of Utopia are apparently equal to each other in everything - in compulsory labor service, in the color and cut of their dresses, in the structure of their houses. But this is far from complete equality. Officials and those to whom an official decision is issued are exempt from labor service
“grants forever this liberation for a thorough study of the sciences.”
“From this class of scholars they choose ambassadors, clergy, tranibors (high officials) and, finally, the head of state himself...”
If you compare this with another part of the story:
“For the most part, everyone grows up learning their father’s trade.”
then an idea arises of a closed class, almost a caste, in whose hands is the leadership of the state. As for the rest of the population, the narrator in More’s book speaks about it as follows (saying that laws should be simple, not requiring complex interpretation):
“The common people, with their slow intelligence, are not able to reach such conclusions, and they don’t even have enough life for this, since they are busy getting food.”
And this picture of equality is completely destroyed when we learn that life in Thomas More's Utopia is largely based on slavery. Slaves do all the dirty and hard work. But slavery, according to More, has not only an economic function. The source of slaves on Utopia is as follows:
“...they enslave their own citizen for a shameful act or those who were doomed to execution among foreign peoples for a crime they committed” (they are bought or received for free).
“Slaves of both kinds are not only constantly busy with work, but also chained; treatment of slaves coming from among the Utopians themselves is more severe...”
“The work of these persons brings more benefit than their execution, and on the other hand, the example scares them away for a longer time from committing such a shameful act. If, even after such treatment towards them, they begin to rebel and resist, then they are slaughtered, like wild animals that neither prison nor chain can curb.”
Thomas More's story about Utopia also contains a description of the general worldview of its inhabitants. It is based on recognizing pleasure as the highest goal of life. Refusing them
“This can only be the case when someone neglects these advantages of his for the sake of ardent concern for others and for society, expecting in return for this suffering greater pleasure from God.”
In More's Utopia, complete freedom of conscience reigns, limited only by the fact that the lawgiver Utopia
“with inexorable severity he forbade anyone to lower the dignity of the human race so low as to come to the admission that souls perish along with the body and that the whole world rushes in vain, without any participation of Providence. Therefore, according to their beliefs, after this life, punishments are assigned for vices, and rewards for virtue.”
Some citizens of Utopia consider the Sun to be god, others - the Moon, and still others - one of the ancient heroes. But they all admit
“a certain single deity, unknown, eternal, immeasurable, inexplicable, exceeding the understanding of human reason, spread throughout the world not by its bulk, but by its power: they call him father.”
Worship on Utopia is akin to such abstract theism. Thomas More writes that there are no images of gods in the temples there. The worship service consists of those praying together with the priest singing praises to God to the music. Both men and women can be priests, men can be married.
Recently, as More reports through the narrator, Christianity has become known in Utopia, and has found many followers there. True, one preacher who called other religions pagan and threatened their followers with eternal fire was arrested and convicted. The narrator’s idea is very interesting that the rapid spread of Christianity in Utopia is explained by the similarity between the communist system of the Utopians and the order in the first apostolic community, which
“is still preserved in the purest Christian communities.”
Appeal to the communist character of the community described in the Acts of the Apostles was a favorite argument of heretical sects, and it is difficult to imagine who, if not any of these ideological movements, the author meant by the “pure Christian community” contemporary with him.
If you look at Thomas More as a martyr who gave his life for the ideals of the Catholic Church, then Utopia will be striking in how far it is from these ideals. In addition to a sympathetic description of the hedonistic worldview, a colorless theistic religion, one can also find direct, although disguised, attacks against Christianity and the Pope. Apparently, so far no one has been able to explain how two such contrasting fundamental ideas coexisted in one person.
But if you look at Utopia as a work of literature of chiliastic socialism, it is striking in its moderation. In More we do not find the abolition of the family, the community of wives, or the state education of children in isolation from their parents. Obviously, a new, secular trend in socialism begins, as it were, from afar, not at all from those extreme concepts that were formulated in the ideas of heretical movements.
Materials used in writing this article
In 1520, the remarkable fighter for freedom and equality, Thomas Munzer, passed away. This happened in Germany. And 15 years later in England, the head of another remarkable man rolled off the scaffold - Thomas More. The fame of these two people at one time resounded throughout Europe. They lived in different countries and had nothing in common either in methods of action or in temperament, but both were communists by conviction. One is an agitator, organizer and people's leader, who gathered peasants and artisans, before whom the ruling princes and clergy shuddered. The other is a scientist and statesman who reached the highest position of Lord Chancellor at the court of the English king and wrote works that surprised the whole world. Both were equal to each other in courage and firmness of convictions, both had the same goal - achieving a just system of society, and both ended their lives on the scaffold.
They were the first to widely preach the ideas of communism in the era of religious struggle against feudalism.
In the 16th century, new colonies in America and newly discovered lands, which gave untold wealth to English merchants, began to purchase English goods. Sales increased, and, therefore, it was necessary to increase production. The demand for English wool began to grow in foreign markets, and it became so expensive that raising sheep became much more profitable than renting land to peasants. Then the landowners began to drive out the tenant farmers from their lands, which they needed for pastures. The peasants left without land had no choice but to sell their labor, their working hands to merchants in manufactories. So, starting from the 16th century, a new economic system began to gradually take shape in England - the capitalist one. It is called so because capital played the main role in it, with the help of which a merchant could start a large enterprise and buy the labor necessary for this. In addition to the ruined peasantry, a huge number of dismissed servants and various hangers-on of the nobility appeared, who turned out to be unnecessary due to the cessation of internecine wars. As a result of all this, more people were left without work than the industry could absorb. And at that time, being unemployed was enough to fall into the hands of the executioner, because poverty and unemployment were declared crimes worthy of the death penalty.
In 1520, the English king Henry VIII declared that only elderly and disabled beggars were allowed to beg, while healthy ones were sentenced to lashes and imprisonment. They should be tied to a wheelbarrow and scourged until blood begins to flow from the body; then they must take an oath to return to their homeland or to where they have lived for the last three years, and get to work... And what kind of work? Where can I find it?
In 1536 the law became even stricter. If someone is caught a second time as a tramp, he is again punished with whips and his ear is cut off, and the third time he is executed as a serious criminal and an enemy of society. According to the chronicler, under Henry VIII, 7,200 people were executed in this way. But with this the king could not eliminate poverty.
The declaration of unemployment and poverty as a crime worthy of the death penalty, as well as dreams of resurrecting the equality and brotherhood of the most ancient Christian communities, could not stop the growth of contradictions. And there was only one person at that time, a man who was so courageous and far-sighted that he was able to show people a new path to resolving all contradictions and difficulties, to indicate a step on a new path to a different social system. This man, who painted a never-before-seen picture of the future of communism, was Thomas More, the King's Lord Chancellor. He was born in London in the family of a judge in 1478. After school he studied at the university in Oxford. But his father wanted to make him a lawyer and therefore deprived him of any help. More lived from hand to mouth, he was haunted by need, often he had nothing to buy even boots. Eventually he had to leave the university, and at the behest of his father he began to attend law school in London. In 1501, he became a lawyer, sensitive, responsive and selfless. Until 1504, Thomas More lived near the Carthusian monastery, attended church services and himself wanted to become a monk, but abandoned this intention when he was convinced that the clergy had lost their former severity and abstinence. He returned to secular life and in 1504 was elected to parliament, where, despite his youth, he had significant influence.
At that time, England was already taking part in world trade and London acquired the importance of a world city on a par with Lisbon, Antwerp and Paris. When King Henry VIII came to the throne, More was soon sent as one of the ambassadors to the Netherlands to conclude a trade treaty. He stayed in the Netherlands for 6 months. The negotiations left him a lot of free time, and here he wrote his famous essay: “The Golden Book, as useful as it is funny, about the best structure of the state and about the new island of Utopia” (“utopia” - in Greek - “a place where No"). The first edition of the book appeared in 1516, and then it was reprinted an infinite number of times in all European languages.
In this book, More described an ideal state without oppression of the weak and without forced labor.
The impression from “Utopia Island” was enormous. This work immediately placed More among the first politicians in England. In his book, More paints in living images a picture of a well-organized state, already created and living a full life on an imaginary island. The life of this classless nation-state is described so completely that More seemed to have resolved all the contradictions. More knew life too well to believe that any class, no matter how just its intentions, could maintain power in its hands without oppressing the poor majority. More looked far into the future and contrasted the communist system, in which everything belongs to everyone, with a class society. In his state, everything was distributed according to the principle: labor is compulsory, everyone works as much as he can and gets what he needs, every work is rewarded according to his deserts, and every person lives in luxury, although no one receives more than the other. There is no private property. On the island of Utopia there are 24 large cities, identical in language, customs, laws and institutions. In addition, the country has estates equipped with all the necessary agricultural implements. People live in these estates, gradually leaving the cities for the countryside. Each rural family should have at least forty members, men and women. From each family, every year 20 people, after spending two years in the estate, return to the city and are replaced by twenty others - city dwellers who learn farming from the remaining twenty, who have already lived for a year on the estate and therefore know agriculture. A queue for farmers is introduced in order to so that no one is forced against his will to engage in hard and painstaking agricultural labor for too long.
Villagers cultivate the fields, care for livestock and chop firewood, which they transport to the city. They are also engaged in the artificial hatching of chickens using special apparatus for hatching eggs... The main occupation of the Utopians is agriculture, but along with this, everyone learns a craft as their specialty, and both men and women study it. Their crafts consist mainly of processing wool and flax; in addition, there is the craft of mason, blacksmith and carpenter. The remaining branches of labor have very little application.
In Utopia they work only six hours a day: three hours from morning until lunch, then they rest for two hours and after rest they work for another three hours. Then follows dinner. They go to bed early and sleep for eight hours. Everyone spends the rest of the time at their own discretion. Six hours of work a day is more than enough to produce the things you need for a healthy and enjoyable life.
Everyone works, except for the leaders of society and those who have received permission from the people to devote themselves to science. If such a person does not live up to the expectations placed on him, then he is again transferred to the category of artisans.
Rural residents produce food for themselves and for the townspeople. The latter also work for the city and rural areas. Each city annually sends three of its wisest elders to the capital, who decide common affairs for the entire island. They collect information about where and what there is an excess or deficiency, and then the second is eliminated first. Cities that give their surplus to others receive nothing from them for this, because they themselves use everything they need from others, also without remuneration. Thus, the entire island is like one family. Money in Utopia is completely unknown. All things are available in abundance. There is no reason to say that someone will demand more than he needs, because everyone is sure that he will never have to endure need.
Huge magnificent palaces were built on every street in the city. They are inhabited by “syphogrants” - officials who are elected one for every 30 families. There are 30 families attached to each of the palaces, living on both sides. The heads of the kitchens of these palaces come to the market at certain hours, where everyone takes the necessary products needed for 30 families. But the best products are first sent to the sick in hospitals.
At certain times, every 30 families go to their palaces for lunch and dinner. In the markets, everyone is not prevented from taking as much food as anyone wants, but there is no one who would voluntarily dine separately at home, when there is plenty of good and ready-made food nearby in the palace. Women take turns preparing food in the palace, and boys and girls serve at the table.
The main task of elected siphogrants is to ensure that no one is idle. All siphogrants appoint a prince from among four candidates chosen by the people. The position of prince is for life. He is deprived of his position only if suspicion falls on him that he is striving for autocracy. Religion on the island is a personal matter for everyone. Priests, like all officials, are elected by the people.
The population of Utopia hates war and considers military glory the most unenviable. War is necessary only to defend one's homeland or one's friends and to liberate an oppressed people from the yoke of tyranny. Scientists are held in high esteem. They are freed from physical labor, but doing science is not a monopoly of scientists. There are usually public readings early in the morning, which are open to all men and women. Depending on their inclination, they listen to readings on certain subjects.
So, in Utopia there is no private property and no money. Everyone is engaged only in the affairs of society, and everything is distributed evenly according to the principle: everyone works as much as he can and receives as much as he needs. And although there is no property, everyone there is rich and everyone has a calm and carefree life.
Thomas More's communism was utopian, unrealizable. However, it was created by a deep knowledge of life and understanding of the needs of that era. More was the first to make an attempt to adapt communism to the newly emerging capitalist society and was the first in the world to put forward the basic principle of communism, which later became part of Karl Marx's theory of scientific communism: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
For More, science comes to the service of people for the first time. Science, which seemed hostile to Christianity, becomes necessary in the creation of a new, just system. Mor makes science accessible to everyone as the highest pleasure. But More did not indicate the path to achieving a communist society, and at that time he could not do this.
At the beginning of my analysis, it seems appropriate to briefly characterize the personality of the author "Utopias" by Thomas More and his life, to outline the historical period of the early 16th century for a better understanding of the work.
Thomas More was born into a wealthy urban family in London in 1478 and received an excellent education. He acquired his primary education at the College of St. Anthony. Before entering Oxford University, More was in the house of the Bishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Morton, where he served as a page. The Cardinal really liked the young man, and for the first time he predicted a brilliant future for Thomas. In More he studied with outstanding lawyers - William Grotsin and Thomas Linacre. It was during these years that More entered the circle of humanists who opposed medieval scholastic theology and sought to put the study of man himself in first place. However, Thomas's father did not share his interests and forced him to fully concentrate on studying law. Thanks to this, after completing his studies, More quickly gained fame as an excellent and decent lawyer, a defender of the offended and oppressed.
At the age of 26, he was elected to parliament for the first time. But he did not get along with King Henry VII and withdrew from active political activity until the king's death in 1509. During this period, More was appointed several times by the king under the patronage of English merchants to negotiate with merchants from the continent to Flanders and Calais. It was during one such trip in 1516 that he began to write Utopia. After successfully completing his missions, Pestilence attracts the king's attention. Henry VIII brings More closer to him, high appointments follow one after another. In 1521 - speaker of petitions addressed to the king, in 1523 - chairman of the House of Commons, in 1529 - lord chancellor. This was an unheard-of phenomenon at that time, since for the first time a person from a bourgeois, rather than an aristocratic environment, became the second person in the state after the king. Nevertheless, fame did not go to his head, and throughout his state activities he followed his principles, did not engage in “compliance”, and was practically independent of the king, which led to frequent conflicts.
Fatal for Mora was a clash with the king on the basis of religious politics, although they had previously clashed on issues of budgetary policy. As you know, More was an opponent of the reformation, which began in 1517, and condemned Martin Luther. Henry VIII was also her opponent, but a few years later he quarreled with the Pope and decided to destroy the power of Rome in England, since he saw in this both political and financial advantages (freedom from the power of the pope, rich land holdings). But More did not support him in this and paid dearly for it.
In 1533, the king was proclaimed head of the English church and all subjects were required to swear an oath to him in this. More refused to do this and ended up in the Tower. During the investigation, he boldly defended his position and behaved with the dignity inherent in his noble character. He was found guilty and executed in London on July 7, 1535. This is how this great man, the founder of the philosophy of socialism, ended his life.
Now it’s worth looking at the political map of Europe of that period. The end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century was a period of constant wars and changing coalitions. The continent is dominated by the Habsburgs, led by Emperor Charles V, France and the German principalities are fighting against him, and wars are blazing throughout Western Europe. The English king, based on the political situation, joins first one or the other, spending his treasury on increasingly expensive trips to continental Europe. The fight is going on for every piece of land, castle, town. In such a situation, diplomatic representatives who deftly know how to conclude both alliances and truces are very important. Thomas More is one of these worthy men. At the same time, any of the rulers defends exclusively their personal interests and benefits, and not the people’s or the state’s. Thomas More feels this very subtly, which prompts him to write “Utopia.”
“Utopia” is a book illustrating the ideal model of the state and the structure of society, to which all people and states should strive. There is no doubt that in his book he relies on Plato’s work “The Republic,” which he has always been very fond of since his student days. But More uses the work of the ancient thinker only as the foundation of his book, adding to it all the contemporary realities, especially those relating to the emerging industrial capitalism and its consequences.
The work is written in the form of a story about a journey to an unknown country. This was caused by the beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries; it is no coincidence that the description is given on behalf of one of the companions of Amerigo Vespucci. For the first time, Europeans became acquainted with the customs, traditions and life of new, previously unfamiliar peoples, which pushed people to understand their own lives within the framework of their contemporary society. And More boldly expresses these thoughts, criticizing many of the vices and ulcers of that time. That is why he divides his work into two parts, in the first he describes the contemporary socio-political and economic situation in Europe, exposes all the problems and contradictions within and between peoples, and in the second part he paints an idealistic picture of the life of the fictional people of the New World.
This bright contrast is necessary in order to attract people's attention to modern ills of society, make them realize it and begin to change something, in order to at least correct, improve or eradicate something. After all, people always need a guideline to which they will strive. This structure of a philosophical work was first used by More. He brilliantly coped with the task set for himself, since his book produced a tremendous effect in European thinking and perception of reality. Now it’s worth moving directly to the analysis of the work itself.
First book
The first book begins with a description of the historical panorama of the early 16th century. Thomas More arrived as an ambassador to Flanders to resolve disputes between his king Henry VIII and his opponent Emperor Charles V. In Antwerp, in the interval between negotiations, More, through his friend Peter Egidio, met a very interesting person, Raphael Hythloday, a Portuguese traveler.
It turns out that Raphael participated in three travels of Amerigo Vespucci, during which he saw and learned a lot about the life and government structure of the local residents. He briefly describes what he saw. Talking with him, More and his friend are surprised that with such knowledge the Portuguese has not yet become an adviser to some monarch to improve the latter’s lands. For the Portuguese, the complete impossibility of this is obvious. Raphael enters into an argument with his opponents in order to prove to them his uselessness for the thoughts of any sovereign in the field of foreign and domestic policy. More argues that the sovereign is the benefactor of the people, from whom all useful measures for the subjects should come. But the sovereigns, according to Hythloday, are more concerned about wars and the seizure of new lands and wealth than the well-being of their own people. This is a completely objective statement, due to the fact that during that period the formation of absolutism began, which reached its peak in subsequent centuries.
The interest of the sovereign was paramount; the prevailing opinion was that the monarch knew better, what was more useful to the people and the country. In addition, favoritism, flattery, and denunciation prevail in any court. An intelligent person with his own opinion and certain principles will not last that long, and the sovereign will not tolerate people often disagreeing with him. To make the discussions closer to reality, the interlocutors directly turn to England and its internal structure. Hythloday gives the example of a conversation with Cardinal Morton of Canterbury. And this is the conclusion our traveler came to.
The question concerned the poor, beggars and thieves, the reasons for their mass distribution in England. How does Raphael feel about this? Such phenomena are caused by the unfair distribution of responsibilities and income in the state and incorrect prioritization of state policy. There is a huge class of nobility who live on the labor of others, which is full of idle servants, incapable of useful activity and accustomed to an easy life. Also, too much money is spent on artificially caused wars, which also result in ruin and a huge number of cripples and disabled people. The state takes care of large owners who, in their personal interests, dispossess peasants of land for the purpose of raising sheep (a special case characteristic of English agriculture), and the state does not interfere with this. All these circumstances push people to commit crimes, because they have nothing else to do to survive and feed their families. The justice system, based on the application of similar punishment for theft and murder, is also unfair. This is disastrous for the state, as it encourages people to commit more crimes, while having the same risks. In all these statements, the cardinal finds a grain of truth, praises the Portuguese for his insight, he likes Hythloday’s arguments; Everyone around the cardinal, who at the beginning of the conversation was skeptical about the traveler, instantly agrees with this. This again proves that servility exists even among clergy and church hierarchs. Such interesting and non-standard judgments make Mora again wonder why Raphael does not become an adviser to the king. It is necessary to again substantiate the uselessness of Raphael’s knowledge for the royal courts, to come from the other side in this issue.
This time the Portuguese turns his example to the French court. All royal assistants are busy thinking about various foreign policy actions with the aim of seizing new lands, new wars, and forming profitable short-term alliances. At the same time, even the French kingdom itself remains unsettled, not to mention the newly acquired possessions. The consequence of such a policy is the weakening of the state, since both the rebellious new territories and the state itself are ruined and exhausted in this struggle. Accordingly, it is impossible to sit on more than one chair, and you need to take care exclusively of your kingdom, without encroaching on other people's territories.
The next question is the royal treasury and the welfare of the people. Almost any sovereign strives to fill his treasury in one way or another, and this is where advisers come in handy, capable of extracting taxes from anything, so as not to cause too much discontent among the population. Moreover, these courtiers believe that the main stronghold of power is to prevent the people from spoiling themselves with wealth and freedom. Poverty and lack are supposedly capable of teaching humility and obedience. But the king is chosen by his subjects to respect the welfare of the people, he must first take care of the people's welfare. After all, the main unrest always occurs due to dissatisfaction with the system of the poor classes, seeking to profit from something. Instead of accumulating huge wealth in the treasury, it is better to use this money for good and useful things for the state, the development of the social security system for the population.
In response to all such examples, Thomas More objects, saying that one must strive “in a roundabout way” towards good goals without the desire to immediately radically change everything, without maximalism. To this, Hythloday remarks that he wants to speak only the truth, without this there will be no benefit from him, there are many flatterers even without him. The “roundabout way” will not lead to anything good, but will only do additional harm, spoiling even the most correct person with the best intentions with his conciliatory policy. There is no such thing as the least evil, either you say what you think, or you yourself change for the worse under the influence of corrupt people. This is the lot of a true philosopher, therefore he has no place in public administration, according to Raphael, in the modern realities of life. Then Raphael comes to his main conclusion, the basis of his contemporary society, which destroys people. This is nothing more than a phenomenon of private property.
Where there is private property, there is no equality and prosperity due to constant hostility, the desire to seize as much property as possible, including at the expense of other people. All this leads to the polarization of society into a few haves and many have-nots. More objects to the Portuguese, arguing that without private property no development is possible. He is right in this, if we take into account that without incentives to work, a person loses the desire to work hard and fruitfully, laziness arises, and the desire to shift some of the responsibilities to others. It is difficult to develop principles that stimulate a person without personal interest. Hythloday agrees that a prosperous society without private property is hard to believe; To do this, you need to learn more about Utopia and its orders. A reasonable question arises about the level of civilization of the Utopians in comparison with the Europeans. The Portuguese tells us that the Europeans are more talented, but the Utopians are more diligent and industrious. They quickly borrow useful innovations from other nations, without spoiling their exemplary practices. And it's all about a more reasonable form of government that promotes prosperity and development. After such serious statements, More asks Raphael to describe the Utopian lands in more detail, without missing a single important detail. And we, accordingly, now move directly to the analysis of the state of the Utopian state, its laws, customs and traditions.
Second book
The Utopian state is located on an island protected by natural barriers, such as shoals, reefs, and the shores are also reliably fortified, so that the island is a powerful defensive unit. In ancient times it was a peninsula, but after a victorious war, ruler Utop ordered to strengthen it and dig a canal between it and the land. It was he who brought the wild people to a high degree of culture and education. This is the brief history of this state. Raphael goes on to describe the administrative structure of the country, based on the equality of cities, with the primacy of one, Amaurot, at the center of the state. In addition to cities, there are also villages in which residents work in turns for two years. No one can escape this responsibility.
The island's agriculture is very productive due to the fact that people are united in families of 40 people, representing a form of organization of society in the form of small teams responsible for a certain part of the work. Next, the Portuguese describes the city of Amaurot from the point of view of its location on the ground and its internal structure. The city is very strongly fortified, beautiful, all the buildings are typical and do not stand out from the general background, residents even change their houses by lot every 10 years, since there is no such thing as private property. This promotes equality in society, the absence of greed and envy. All buildings are very neat, they use the latest achievements of the people of Utopia and are not inferior to similar European ones.
The procedure for determining officials in the city who are also responsible for maintaining this exemplary order is also interesting. Every year, every 30 families elect an official, a phylarch. Every ten such phylarchs is headed by a person called a protophylarch. All these officials choose the prince, one of 4 candidates proposed by the people. The position of the prince is for life, provided that he has no desire for tyranny and usurpation of power, which is quite reasonable. Protophylarchs are elected every year, which ensures that there are no injustices in governance. They always consult with the prince to make the most effective decision. Any decision on public affairs can be made only through the Senate or the People's Assembly, which helps to suppress any attempts to usurp power. In order to avoid hasty conclusions and decisions on the part of the Senate, none of the proposals are considered on the day they are introduced.
Now let's talk in more detail about the occupations of the population on the island. Agriculture is common to all residents; no one is exempt from it. In addition to this, everyone learns some kind of trade, usually his father's trade. If he wants to study another craft, then he simply transfers to another family in which they are engaged in this activity. This practice is very interesting, it ensures everyone’s employment and interest in their work; The phylarchs must ensure that there is no idleness. But there is no backbreaking work, since the Utopians have a fairly free day, taking into account 6 hours of work and 8 hours of sleep.
They usually spend the rest of their time on science and self-development. At the same time, in their free time they never gamble, preferring more intellectual and useful activities, such as music and dancing, and public lectures. Thanks to this, the moral health of the population is not undermined by harmful and vicious entertainment. Such a convenient distribution of time would be impossible without the involvement of almost all categories of the population in the processes of labor and production, taking into account the capabilities of the latter. It is also important to point out the reasons for exemption from labor. This right was enjoyed either by phylarchs or by individuals released from labor on the advice of the people and clergy for a thorough study of the sciences. The abilities and aspirations of people to acquire knowledge are taken into account. From this category of the population, persons are selected for all administrative positions in the state (ambassadors, rulers, clergy, etc.). Thanks to people’s careful attitude to their responsibilities, nothing falls into disrepair, nothing gets neglected, but develops dynamically. Accordingly, all structures and complexes (buildings, production sites) do not require expensive repairs.
It is also important that in the state of the Utopians everything is in abundance. This contributes to a happy life in the state, because they believe that burdensome work is harmful, it is necessary to work as much as is sufficient to maintain social needs at an acceptable level. This is a completely healthy and strong foundation of the state, based on the well-being of all citizens, and not individuals. Then it is worth saying that the Utopians follow the principle of maintaining a certain number of inhabitants at the family, city, and island level. They resettle surplus people to colonies outside their state, and, if necessary, return them from there. It is a completely reasonable principle that maintains stability in the state, the population at a certain level, and is quite effective in the event of food shortages on the island, epidemics and other unpleasant events.
The process of obtaining material benefits by the inhabitants of the island is no less unusual. Produced goods are deposited in special warehouses, from which each father of the family can take as many goods as he needs. Such a principle seems impossible, because greed and the desire for acquisition are rooted in the consciousness of European man. But the Utopians have everything in abundance; there is no point in striving for accumulation in this case. Social services are also strikingly different from the European reality of Mohr’s time, manifested in excellent medical care and food distribution, regardless of a person’s status.
Harmony reigns in families, the younger ones respect the elders, but at the same time, the life together of different generations does not consist only of moralizing conversations, but is also filled with various pleasures, as long as nothing unpleasant happens from them. After all, the human soul is born for happiness, and not for harsh and ascetic beneficence. At the same time, another principle comes into play, based on respect and recognition of the interests of other members of society.
Phenomena unnatural to human nature, such as a pub, a brothel, a wine shop, do not exist in a Utopian state. All this contributes to the healthy spirit of the residents, turns them away from laziness and idleness, and vicious behavior. Inevitably, from all the previous facts, the conclusion follows that the island of the Utopians is completely self-sufficient, which makes it possible to make strategic reserves in case of any unforeseen situations. And at the same time, there are still many free goods that, through the state and under its control, are exported to other states at a reasonable price.
Exporting a variety of goods from agricultural products to purple, they receive in return the iron and precious metals they need, gold and silver. These metals are found in abundance in the country and therefore have practically no value for the Utopians, unlike the Europeans, who are ready to do anything for the sake of such treasures. These values are necessary for recruiting soldiers in other countries, fielded instead of their residents, since human life is the most precious thing for the Utopians. Or gold is used to bribe enemies and bring discord into their camp. To ensure that the thirst for profit does not undermine society, the authorities of Utopia have invented a very active way of using it. Precious metals and stones are used to make chains for slaves, children's toys and dishes for the dirtiest needs. All this contributes to discouraging residents from the desire to possess these metals.
Raising a person by his wealth, and not by his intelligence or merits, is sheer stupidity. But the inquisitive mind inherent in the Utopians is held in high esteem in the state. The diligence of the inhabitants is manifested in the fact that they absorb information very quickly, which is manifested in their rapid acquisition of the Greek language and comprehension of the complex works of the ancient Greek classics. The citizens of Utopia received this opportunity thanks to Raphael and his vigorous activity. It is now worth considering the issue of slavery in a Utopian society. They turn into slaves either their own citizens for committing shameful acts or representatives of foreign peoples sentenced to death and ransomed by the Utopians. Sometimes hardworking and poor representatives of other nations voluntarily go to the Utopians, they are treated mildly, but the Utopians themselves, who have fallen into slavery for bad deeds, are treated doubly harshly. After all, how can you commit a crime with such an ideal and prosperous life? There is no excuse for this.
It is equally important, in my opinion, to consider such a civil institution of society as marriage and marital relations. The state seeks to discourage people from promiscuous cohabitation by severely punishing adultery. Such behavior undermines the family, the unit of society, and sows discord. When choosing a mate, Utopians pay attention not only to spiritual qualities, but also to appearance, sometimes examining each other like horse buyers. What dictates this behavior? This is due to the fact that among Utopians it is possible to have only one wife; accordingly, you need to weigh the pros and cons before making a choice, because then you will carry this lot for the rest of your life. Divorce is possible either in case of adultery, or in case of intolerable character, as well as in case of mutual desire with the consent of the Senate. But such cases are rare among Utopians who have such qualities as duty, nobility, respect, etc.
In general, the Utopians cultivate noble deeds in every possible way, erecting monuments and statues to outstanding statesmen in public places. Thus, the people are encouraged to creatively and honestly work for the benefit of the whole society. A good idea, also effective due to severe punishments against those officials who were not distinguished by crystal honesty. Also, to maintain the foundations of the state, there are a small number of laws that are understandable to every resident of the island. There is also such an institution as independent defense in court, which contributes to the objectivity of the investigation and decision-making. Thus, simple-minded people are protected from the machinations of cunning and intriguers.
The fame of the justice of the Utopian officials quickly spread throughout the surrounding countries, especially those that the Utopians had liberated by force from tyranny. Such states ask the inhabitants of a free island for themselves as officials. Such peoples are allies of Utopia. At the same time, in the minds of Utopians in matters of friends and allies, there is a key difference with European reality. Unlike European monarchs, the Utopians do not enter into any agreements, since they do not trust this form of agreement. In Europe, the greatness of such a thing as a treaty is indestructible. And at the same time, they are violated many times, since some official or state adviser periodically finds a loophole in the complex and confusing wording of the agreements. Utopians believe that treaties acquire too much influence in the minds of peoples after their conclusion, which contributes to the disunity and bitterness of people, despite their historical and natural fraternal community. Working closely with neighboring countries and peoples, the Utopians cannot avoid periodic hostilities of various forms of fierceness. Let's take a closer look at this issue.
In general, they do not tolerate war as a phenomenon and begin it only in a few exceptional cases: an attack on their borders, an attack on the possessions of their friends, trampling on the trade and other interests of their friends, the salvation of some people from tyranny. Victories achieved at the cost of great bloodshed do not cause them joy, because there is nothing more valuable than human life in the minds of the Utopians. At the same time, victories achieved by any other means, by cunning or deception, are revered by them as very heroic and worthy deeds. In such a situation, intelligence is used, a human feature that is not inherent in any other living creature. Similar methods include introducing discord into the camp of enemies, such as offering bribes, rewards for betrayal, and extraditing state leaders and the most important officials, alive or dead. Thus, the greed of peoples allows the Utopians to easily and without much effort disorganize the resistance of other peoples by causing a split in one way or another. The death of a small part of the top representatives of such states allows us to save the lives of many ordinary people who participate in the war against their will. Thanks to the abundance of jewelry, the Utopians have the opportunity to carry out bribery at the very top of the power ladder, pitting nobles against each other in the struggle for the power they desire, thereby reducing the enemy’s combat potential to a minimum. But to conduct combat operations, military contingents are still needed, albeit limited. There are several sources for these purposes: these are either soldiers of allied countries, or soldiers recruited in other states for money, mercenaries. The Utopians themselves act as strategists and military managers. But sometimes ordinary citizens of Utopia also have to fight as soldiers. Prudently, they avoid unnecessary and unimportant battles, but when necessary and unavoidable battles, they stubbornly fight to the last opportunity.
The Utopians observe all moral rules when conducting battle, do not maim or kill people in vain, and willingly take prisoners. What a contrast with any European theater of war, where no one spares human life, and blood always flows like a river. In addition to this, they sacredly honor the truces concluded with enemies and do not destroy infrastructure or farmland in the enemy’s country. Captured villages and cities are not plundered, and civilians do not suffer any insults or oppression. Nothing like this can be imagined, for example, during the fighting between the French and the Spaniards, where the innocent local population suffered the most. War booty taken from the leadership of the state is transferred to the Utopian allies, while the inhabitants of the island themselves do not take anything for themselves, since they are provided with everything in abundance. The only form of increasing Utopia's capital during wars is the acquisition of part of the estates of local nobles who oppose them into ownership by the Utopian state. Such income makes it possible to keep these territories under control and maintain peace and stability there.
Now it is worth paying attention to the last aspect that characterizes Utopia. This is religion and its features. The first important feature is the diversity in the pantheon of gods; almost every city has its own religion, and the state does not impose one for all residents. But all these ideas about God agree that their nature is one, simply manifested in different essences. You can profess your religion without any fear, but at the same time you cannot campaign for it en masse, vilify other beliefs, thereby sowing confusion among the masses. You can convert to your religion, but only in an exclusively peaceful way, thanks to persuasion and evidence. The Utopians do not think of a non-believer as a person in principle, since the absence of faith is interpreted as a rejection of the higher nature of the human soul. After all, such a person is not afraid of anything except the legislation, which he can bypass if he wants. This means that he is extremely unreliable; you cannot trust him with important matters. The attitude of citizens towards death is also very interesting. They consider death to be the transition of the soul to supreme bliss. Those who part with this world with fear are afraid of the end due to the fact that their soul is burdened with some bad deeds. The rest of the people die cheerful, because they are sure that they are following the call of God and nothing bad will happen to them in that world. Various superstitions are also not characteristic of them. The few priests are universally respected, as they are elected by the people through voting. Priests are engaged in monitoring human morals and raising boys and young men. At the same time, there is a completely unthinkable phenomenon: women can also be priests. Other peoples also respect them, thanks to their intercession and peacekeeping during hostilities, and their promotion of peace agreements. In general, the religion of the Utopians is maximally rationalized and humanized, freed from various superstitions and remnants of the past.
Conclusion
Thomas More's work "Utopia" is one of the greatest philosophical works in human history. It formulated the most advanced ideas of the time, revealed the main contradictions of the period of the birth of capitalism in Europe, the discrepancy between the interests of elites and ordinary citizens, pointed out the most pressing problems of ordinary people, such as poverty, hunger, etc., and called on the society of that period to become more just and healthy. More sought to establish clear boundaries and relationships between religion and reason, to make society more humanistic and open in its model, avoiding both the complete denial of religion and various superstitions. And although this is only an ideal model, it reflects the ideas and provisions that every state should strive for in its development, based on greater social justice and general well-being. He sought to highlight domestic policy as a higher priority over foreign policy; one must first of all worry about the lives of one’s own citizens and their well-being.
The impetus for writing this book was undoubtedly More's impressions of the rural life of the population of England, difficult and unenviable, and of the moral state of his contemporary urban and high society, saturated with incorrect and inert morality, distorted by the excessive interference of scholastic philosophy in the minds of people. Also, in his opinion, the main problem of separation and alienation of people lies in the presence of private property, which fuels the thirst for profit and acquisition. More's scheme does not show us a ready-made recipe for how to rebuild society, but roughly outlines a path that can lead people to happiness and prosperity. It is no coincidence that More wrote his work in a discussion form. “Utopia” became the forerunner of socialism, which subsequently received not only a theoretical justification given by More, but also practical ways and principles of implementation that are actually feasible within society. That is why the role of this book cannot be overestimated.
Thomas More truly became the founder of such a movement in philosophy as utopian socialism, which was difficult to imagine before him. Thus, he forever inscribed his name in the history of mankind, being one of the first to consider in such detail and detail the issues of social inequality and injustice in society.
"Utopia" by Thomas More, a brief summary of which is given in this article, is a famous work by an English writer and lawyer, whose name has become a household name for the entire genre. The book was first published in 1516. Its full title is “The Golden Book, as useful as it is funny, about the best structure of the state and about the new island “Utopia.”
First book
"Utopia" by Thomas More, a summary of which you are now reading, begins with a kind of introduction. Thomas More writes a letter to his friend Peter Aegidius, in which he asks him to read his work and tell him if any important details are missing.
Raphael knows many customs and laws that exist in other countries. He talks about those that, in his opinion, could be applied in a European state. Peter advises the navigator to apply his knowledge by getting a job as an adviser to the sovereign. But Rafail is categorically against it. He believes that the kings pay too much attention to military affairs, trying to acquire new lands, instead of taking care of the existing ones.
At the same time, those advisers that they have, as a rule, support the ruler, so as not to lose their name and fall out of favor. Raphael categorically condemns the war, considering it absolutely senseless. He is outraged that murder and petty theft are punished equally - a person can be sent to the scaffold. At the same time, moneybags blissfully live in luxury, while ordinary people work hard and become beggars, and this contributes to the development of crime.
How to become a successful state?
In “Utopia” by Thomas More, a summary of which is in front of you, it is noted that every state strives to have a strong army and an unlimited amount of gold reserves, which are necessary to maintain troops. The aggressors need war only to give soldiers experience in combat.
Raphael behaves like a true philosopher, noting that he always wants to speak only the truth, so he prefers to abstain from government affairs. At the same time, the navigator happily talks about the state whose morals, customs and laws appealed to him most.
Second book
The second book of “Utopia” by Thomas More, a summary of which you can read in this article, begins with a description of a fictional island. It is named Utopia in honor of its founder - Utop.
There are 54 cities on this island. Everywhere the same institutions, morals and laws. This is a mandatory rule. The central settlement is the city of Amaurot. All land on the island is equally distributed between the regions. And urban and rural residents change places every two years. Those families who have not worked on the land before constantly come to the village.
There is a huge and deep moat around Amaurot, the city itself is surrounded by towers and loopholes. It stands out for its beauty and purity. A garden is laid out near each house, and private property is abolished to such an extent that once every ten years the inhabitants of Utopia change houses. Who chooses where to live by lot.
From Thomas More's work "Utopia", there is a brief summary on the brief, but you can find it in this article, we will learn how the control system is organized. Every thirty families are led by a phylarch, and over ten phylarchs there is a protophylarch. There are a total of 200 protophylarchs on the island, who choose a prince to lead the country. He rules throughout life. But in all other positions, changes occur annually.
Activities of the Utopians
In Thomas More's Utopia, a summary of which you are now reading, it is stated that all Utopians are engaged in agriculture. In addition to this, everyone has their own unique craft, which they pass on to their children and grandchildren.
At the same time, no one is forced to do anything specific. If the craft that is cultivated in his family is not to his liking, he is transferred to a family with the occupation he needs.
The working day on Utopia Island lasts six hours. Its residents devote the rest of their time to studying science or doing household chores. Those who show special zeal in the sciences are promoted to the category of scientists. Only from these people are representatives of the clergy, diplomats, ambassadors and state leaders chosen.
Life of the island's inhabitants
In the book “Utopia” by Thomas More, a summary of which you are now reading, it is described that while working, all the inhabitants of the island dress in skins. And they go out into the streets in raincoats. Moreover, their color and cut are all the same. Each person is given exactly one dress for two years. In the family, everyone obeys the elder.
When it turns out that the city is overpopulated, some of the citizens are sent to a colony, the same thing happens in the opposite case. In the central part of each city there is a market. All goods and food are brought to it. On any day, anyone can take whatever they want. Everything is in abundance. The palaces regularly host public dinners and lunches.
Residents of Utopia can move from city to city only with the permission of the tranibors and siphogrants. For self-will in this matter, they face severe punishment, and in case of repeated violation, even slavery.
Money and goods
In Thomas More's book "Utopia", you can read a summary in this article, it is described that the island has everything you need in the right quantity and even in excess. Some are even given to the poor in other countries, and the rest is sold.
The Utopians use money only in foreign policy; they save it in case of war. At the same time, precious metals, such as gold and silver, are despised. They make shackles into which slaves are shackled, but they themselves do not use them at all. Children play with precious stones while they remain small. Having grown up, they leave them.
The inhabitants of the island achieved great heights and success in the arts and sciences. When residents of other countries come to visit them, they get to know their scientific achievements and culture in detail. They quickly master and develop everything on their territory.
In "Utopia" by Thomas More, a summary of the chapters is in this article, it is argued that the entire life of the island's inhabitants is filled with pleasures for body and spirit, as well as virtues. All relationships are built on justice and honesty; helping the sick and infirm is at the forefront. One of the main pleasures for Utopians is health. At the same time, they value strength, beauty and agility.
Slavery in Utopia
At the same time, slavery exists on the island. It is used by residents of the island who have committed any shameful acts, or by representatives of other peoples who find themselves in Utopia who are sentenced to execution. One of the basic principles is that the labor of slaves is more beneficial than executing them.
Seriously ill citizens rarely decide to commit suicide, because life for them is their main pleasure. Everyone here considers such an act a great sin. Adultery is also severely punished.
Although the Utopians are saving money for a possible war, they themselves consider any armed confrontation an unacceptable atrocity. To win in foreign affairs, they prefer to use diplomacy and cunning; they often bribe those close to the enemy sovereign. Only when these methods do not prove effective do they decide to engage in military battles.
Utopia wages war with the help of foreign soldiers who are generously paid. Own citizens are appointed to leadership positions in the army. At the same time, Utopia is ready not only to defend itself in the international arena. The country reserves the right to stand up for oppressed peoples, but only if the battles take place on foreign lands.
Religion
In Utopia, all residents are free to choose any religion. It is forbidden to forcibly convert someone to one religion or another. Most worship a single god, whose name is Mithra. At the same time, no one is afraid of death. In “Utopia” by Thomas More, a summary with quotes is in this article, they say that “a new, even happier life promises a meeting with God.”
This is how Raphael ends his story about the distant ideal state.