Utopia

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Written in 1516, this book was written by a Christian humanist, and basically, pictured a better model for the world without poverty, corruption, war, greed and etc... which could be reached through study of the bible.

I was just reading about this in my history textbook and was curious to see if anyone here has read it, and is it the earliest written work which calls for a classless society even if in a utopian fashion

[abbielives!]

ive read it, it's pretty good some soild ideas in there. on the other hand his "Utopia" does not eliminate slavery. goes to show the nature of utopia i guess
it's pretty short, you could probably get it at a library

[RedStarOverChina]

It's hardly a utopia. It has slaves (wearing chains made of gold), if I recall correctly.

And it waged wars against neighbouring countries.

[abbielives!]

thats what i meant about the nature of Utopia, More did not envision an end to slavery or war , though that is considered common sense today

[OneBrickOneVoice]

oh i see

[Angry Young Man]

I bought it but it's boring as fuck.

Back to good old Comrade Karl.

[Leo]

I can barely remember the details of this book, I read it years ago. I do remember the bits about slaves wearing wearing either chains or accessories made of gold (I think riches were portrayed to be symbols of shame in the society). As I recall, the society was lead by a king and the society seemed to have a primitive communal property structure with a feudal-monarchical political structure. From a historical point of view, it is an interesting read.

Utopia is available online:

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/...opia/index.html (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/more/works/utopia/index.html)

[Comrade Marcel]

Utopia had nothing to do with the Bible. The book reads as a travelr telling a story that was told to him by someone else in Spanish, if I remember correctly. He mentioned the inhabitants of Utopia have their own religion but have freedom of religion.

Utopia is based on Plato's Republic. Actually, all literature dealing with the subject of Totalitarianism can be linked back to it more or less.

[abbielives!]

Originally posted by Comrade [email protected] 21, 2007 01:50 am
Utopia had nothing to do with the Bible.

yeah, but Thomas More was a catholic saint

[che's long lost daughter]

Maybe you mistook him for Saint Thomas Aquinas, which Catholics consider a doctor of the church

[abbielives!]

Originally posted by che's long lost [email protected] 21, 2007 10:37 am
Maybe you mistook him for Saint Thomas Aquinas, which Catholics consider a doctor of the church

nope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More

[Comrade Marcel]

Originally posted by abbielives!+May 21, 2007 05:43 am--> (abbielives! @ May 21, 2007 05:43 am)
Comrade [email protected] 21, 2007 01:50 am
Utopia had nothing to do with the Bible.

yeah, but Thomas More was a catholic saint [/b]
He was a Catholic, but I don't recall him being ordained as a saint...

[whoknows]

In 'Socialism Before the French Revolution" by William Guthrie, "Utopia" was argued to be one of the earilist "modern" works promoting socialism. "Utopia" has a comtempory companion work, "the City of the Sun" by the Italian monk Tommaso Campanella (a frequent flyer at the polictal prisons or Naples). But be warned, 'City of the Sun' is subtitled, ' poetical dialoque'.
It's odd, isn't it that these pionners never had the breakthrough that would cause them to concieve of the end of slavery. They never even seemed to question it.

Some of you are students and if you have not already read Voltaire's 'Canndide', you may be asked to. In chapters 14 and 15 the Jesuit organization of Paraquay is condemed by Voltaire and one assumes without further information that it was much like the opressive Fransican missions of California and the southwest. Guthrie, in his work above, has a bit different take on them.

About Thomas Moors sainthood, he was murdered for his catholic faith by King Henry and so being martyred automaticly qualified for sainthood.

[abbielives!]

"In 1935, four hundred years after his death, More was canonized in the Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI, and was later declared the patron saint of lawyers and statesmen. He shares his feast day, June 22 on the Catholic calendar of saints, with Saint John Fisher, the only Bishop during the English Reformation to maintain his allegiance to the Pope. More was added to the Anglican Churches' calendar of saints in 1980."- from the link above