Thomas More's Utopia remains one of the most puzzling and paradoxical treatises on the ideal state. In order to elucidate More's true ideas and judgments, an examination of Raphael Hythloday, the state of Utopia, and the dialogue among characters, particularly the characters of Thomas More and Hythloday, is necessary. Utopia is much more than a satire, or even a treatise in political philosophy: Within the dialogue dwell More's reflections, often dangerously radical, on the nature of man, community and government, freedom and free will. Many critics of Utopia choose between dismissing the commonwealth as diverting satire, labeling it a prescient warning on the dangers of a humanitarian communism, or accepting it as More's genuine vision of the ideal state and society. Any such singular interpretation of the dialogue narrows More's political, literary, and philosophical genius and fails to address the ways in which Utopia questions and clarifies our own time, our own government, and our own souls.
Throughout much of Book I, More condemns European institutions and society through the character of Hythloday. He attacks injustices entrenched in English laws and courts, the selfishness, greed, and vanity of political advisors and politicians, the readiness of European elites to engage needlessly in violent wars, the idleness and profligacy of the aristocracy, and the misuse of religion by men in power. Few critics doubt More's authenticity in these passionate denunciations; more controversial is the character who speaks them.
Read Full Article »