From Utopia, by Sir Thomas More | Norton pg 352

#booktube In which I talk about a selection from Utopia, by Sir Thomas More.

[breakyournails]

Hey just found your channel and watched the vid on Satires, which confirmed that I should definitely purchase it.

I have read "Utopia" and something else that I think is often overlooked is that a purpose of the Book, I'd argue one of the primary purposes in fact, was to critique scholastic philosophy. The whole of Book 1 delves into the difference between Raphael and the 'fictional' More's differing perspective on approaching philosophy. Raphael believes that for the philosopher to attempt any practical or direct change in political spheres is futile - like running out into the rain that everyone else is already standing in and trying to convince the stubborn to come back inside, you just get wet like everyone else (too lazy to find the direct quote, but that was its essence). Whereas More believes in the more Humanist civil philosophy that states that whilst you can't completely convince someone of a drastically different opinion, you can find compromises that do the least bad and move in the direction of a more ethical decision - slowly improving things. He apparently held this belief until near the end of his life when he finally stopped advising the king and the king, actually quite reluctantly (and after many offers for More to come back and apologize), put him to death.

[danicaholly]

Very interesting video about a great man! He was strongly opposed to the idea that the monarch should be a head of church as well and still today English queen is a head of the church...

[tillysshelf]

I have read Utopia, and I think the thing that grated on me was the description of gender roles, but with times being so different his structure was probably nicer for women than the existing one. He makes some fascinating points about the way societies work, but it wasn't exactly a riveting read for me. Interesting about the rise of the common man/merchant as a protagonist - the middle class was becoming more organised and established.