Thomas More, Christian humanism, Catholicism and Utopia.

Thomas More (1478-1535) was an English lawyer and scholar whose writings became famous throughout Europe in the early sixteenth century. In that period, "humanists" were attacking the established educational system of the medieval universities ("scholasticism") and advocating wide-ranging political, social and educational reforms. More was one of the most famous of the humanists (another was his friend Erasmus). In 1516 the first edition of More's Utopia was published; it criticized many aspects of life in contemporary Europe and established a whole new type of writing and outlook on life ("utopianism"). Much of what More said in Utopia was ironical and not intended to be taken at face value, but just how much remains unclear. For the last 485 years there has been no agreement on what Utopia means. Some people think the book is just a joke; others argue that most of it is meant very seriously, and that More wanted the Europeans of his age to imitate the Utopians described in the book.

Utopia was written (in Latin, for educated people) at a time when Europeans were just beginning to sail across oceans to previously unknown lands. The book claimed to be a description of such a new land (though the fact that its title is Greek for "no place" gave away that it was fiction - at least to people who knew Greek!). For much of the time, More writes as though the way the Utopians manage their lives is far superior to the European way. The Utopian way centered on communism; Utopians had no private property and led lives which were closely controlled by the state. They also practiced religious toleration, and permitted euthanasia, suicide and divorce.

The year after Utopia was printed, Martin Luther set in motion events which led to the Reformation - in which Europe split decisively and permanently on religion. Luther founded Protestantism, a movement which rejected the Catholic church altogether. More, like other humanists, had criticized many aspects of the church, but he was unwilling to split from it; he thought that if religious unity amongst Christians was undermined, the result would be disaster for Europe and civilization. So he came to believe that Protestants were heretics who had to be eradicated. The English King, Henry VIII was a personal friend of More, and made him lord chancellor of England (the highest legal office in the country). As chancellor, More was responsible for burning Protestants. When Henry broke with the Catholic church, More resigned his job, and in 1535 he was beheaded for his opposition to the king's anti-Catholic policies (see the movie "A Man for All Seasons" on More's later life and his death). More died for the Catholic faith (he was made a saint just a few decades ago); he himself was intolerant of non-Catholics; Catholics condemn suicide, euthanasia and divorce; but the Utopians practiced those things and were religiously tolerant. So how seriously should we take Utopia? The Catholic church was largely scholastic rather than humanist in its outlook; so was More really more of a scholastic than a humanist? What is the point (or are the points) for More (or anyone else) in writing utopias? Would you like to live in More's utopia?

If you get the time, you might read some more on More (he himself liked punning, and writers on him pun endlessly on his name!). There is a biography by Richard Marius (the standard modern one), and an older but still interesting one by R. W. Chambers. Paul O. Kristeller, Renaissance Thought: the classic, scholastic and humanist strains, New York 1961, is good on just what "humanist" and "scholastic" mean; F. E. and E. P. Manuel, Utopian thought in the western world, Oxford 1979 is a full discussion of utopianism; Quentin Skinner, "Sir Thomas More's 'Utopia' and the language of Renaissance humanism," in Anthony Pagden, ed., The languages of political theory in early-modern Europe, Cambridge 1987, 123-57, is an incisive and thoughtful essay; Edward Surtz, The praise of pleasure: philosophy, education, and communism in More's Utopia, Cambridge Mass., 1957, and Surtz, The praise of wisdom: a commentary on the religious and moral problems and backgrounds of St Thomas More's "Utopia", Chicago, 1957, are two informative books by a Jesuit.
There are many editions of Utopia; the standard scholarly one (with lots of notes, the original Latin text, etc.) was published by Yale and edited by J. H. Hexter and Surtz. There is a condensed paperback version of this, edited by Surtz. Another good edition is in the series Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought (the "Blue Books").

On the Internet, you could try

the article on More from the Catholic Encyclopedia, with lots of links to other articles.

Also worth a visit are

	More about More ,
	the St. Thomas More Web page,
	and Sir Thomas More site.

These sites also contain further links.