Thomas More essays

Thomas More essays Sir Thomas More ranks in the upper echelon of heroes of the humanist movement. His greatest work, Utopia, focused on peoples curiosity concerning the New World. The premise of Utopia is a conversation that More had with Raphael Hythlodaeus, a sailor who traveled with Amerigo Vespucci to discover a new land named Utopia. More utilizes the pun of the word Utopia, meaning both good place and no place. More both criticizes his own government and describes a perfect one, a mixture of progressive ideas and those of Plato. In this society, the concept of private property is virtually non-existent. The majority of political officers are elected in free elections, and More believes that everyone-men, women, and members of every profession-should do genuine work, particularly manual labor. Because everyone is working, all tasks can be completed in a six-hour day, leaving plenty of creative leisure time. Everything in this society is shared, and material goods are of no particular value. For example, silver and gold were not kept in vaults; rather they were used to construct pots and pans. More tries to return to medievalism while integrating the improvements of his age. He also opposes the new system of capitalism, and states that evils transpire most when money beareth all the swing. More insists on equality, and this equality means that all people should work at a trade, except the few selected to be either priests or scholars. However, despite his clever preparation, Mores equality breaks down , as he has slaves for labor considered unworthy of the Utopians. He, in addition, was disgusted by the incessant warfare of his era, and insisted on little or no warfare conducted by his Utopians. He intends that all wars be contested on bordering lands, and would be fought by mercenaries. One of the imperfections of Mores society is that he only stretches this ideal nation to ...