PHILO
LESSON 1: Utopia • 1533: After annulment of Henry VIII with Catherine of
STM: A Short Timeline
• Feb 7, 1478: STM was born on Milk St., Cripplegate,
London; eldest son of John More (barrister) and Agnes
Graunger (daughter of a wealthy merchant).
• 1485: Starts school at St. Anthony’s School, London;
studies mainly Latin.
• 1490: Became a page at Lambeth Palace, under Cardinal
John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor
of England, Chancellor of Oxford University, righthand
man of King Henry VII.
• Feb 7, 1478: STM was born on Milk St., Cripplegate,
London; eldest son of John More (barrister) and Agnes
Graunger (daughter of a wealthy merchant).
• 1485: Starts school at St. Anthony’s School, London;
studies mainly Latin.
• 1490: Became a page at Lambeth Palace, under Cardinal
John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor
of England, Chancellor of Oxford University, righthand
man of King Henry VII.
• 1492: STM enrolled at Canterbury College, Oxford
University.
• 1494: Started law school, New Inn, London.
• 1496: Enters Lincoln’s Inn.
• c.1499: Starts mixing with scholars interested in Greek
lit.; also with Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch humanist who
became his close friend.
• c.1499-1503: Lived in a Carthusian monastery.
• 1504: Became a Member of Parliament.
• 1505: Married Jane Colt, eldest daughter, Margaret was
born.
• 1509: Henry VII died, Henry VIII is king.
• 1510: Became MP for London.
• 1511: First wife died, marries Alice Middleton, a widow.
• May 1515: Travelled to Bruges as a member of an
English mission to renegotiate treaties with the
Netherlands.
• July 1515: Visited Antwerp, stays with the Town Clerk, a
friend of Erasmus, named Peter Gilles (Pieter Gillis).
• Sept. 1515: Started writing Utopia.
• 1516: Finished Utopia in London.
• Dec. 1516: Utopia was published in Louvain.
• 1517: Travelled to Calais on another mission; joins
service of Henry VIII as Councilor Attendant.
• 1521: Given a knighthood.
• 1523: Became Speaker of the House of Commons.
• 1525: Became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
• 1529: Became Lord Chancellor.
• 1532: Resigned as Lord Chancellor.
Aragon, and marriage to Anne Boleyn, More did not
attend her coronation.
• 1534: Refused to swear the oath required by the Act of
Succession; sent to the Tower.
• 1535: Tried for treason at Westminster Hall; was
beheaded on Tower Hill.
Introduction: 1, 2
• Claimed as exclusive property of both Catholics and
communists.
• Catholics treated it as a moral allegory.
• Communists see it as a political manifesto.
• What kind of book was STM writing?
o “entertaining as it is instructive...”
o “to tell the truth with a laugh”
o “not merely to be witty and entertaining, but also to
say something interesting.”
 Utopia’s Form
• Utopia was designed to entertain and:
• Create an avenue for STM to be able to say what he liked
without the usual criticism.
• It enabled him to disavow responsibility for any view that
might be considered subversive.
Introduction: 3
• Utopia does not represent a positive ideal but a negative
attack on European wickedness.
• Suggests a spirit of reform; to do one’s share to improve
mankind.
• Not a final solution, but offers a possibility of
improvement.
Introduction: 4
• Utopia gave birth to a literary genre.
• Offshoots include Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World”,
George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, Francis Bacon’s
“New Atlantis”.
Questions
• Does STM recommend the Utopian way of life?
• Can the contradictions to STM's beliefs be his real
beliefs?
• Is there anything from Utopia that is still applicable today?
• What philosophies can we apply to our own lives?
PHILO
LESSON 2: Introduction to Utopia
PART 1: ST. THOMAS MORE’S UTOPIA
- is in a state where the catholic and the communists are
claiming that St. Thomas more’s Utopia are theirs
exclusive property hence, there is a dwelling rivalry
between the two on who has the exclusive rights on
More’s Utopia.
- St. Thomas More has a great influence in the catholic and
political world.
“Pope Pius XI honored More as the greatest martyr of the
English Reformation, and the Catholic Church canonized
More in 1935” and “Jonathan Swift an eighteenth-century
Anglo-American satirist and political commentator said that
when Henry VIII cut off the head of Sir Thomas More, he
beheaded a person of the greatest virtue this kingdom.”
(Papke, 2016)
- Hence, both catholic and the political parties are in awe
of St. Thomas More and his brilliance in his field.
PART 2: UTOPIA
- satirical work of fiction that was published in 1516 by St.
Thomas More.
- presented along with its social, political, and religious
customs.
The city-state's name, Utopia, comes from the Greek topos
which means "place", and ou, meaning "no," which together
means "no place." It is a pun on eu meaning perfect or new.
Hence, Utopia is a perfect, imaginary place.
What kind of book is Utopia?
- It is a splendid little book, as entertaining as it is
instructive.
- It talks about the world that aligns with their ethos and
personal philosophy.
- In addition to providing entertainment, Utopia was a book
that gave More a platform where he could express
himself freely without being subjected to criticism.
Three primary characters in More's "Utopia"
1. Thomas More - Author and main character of Utopia
2. Peter Giles – Friend of Thomas More, and the town
clerk of Antwerp
3. Raphael Hythloday – Well-traveled friend of Giles
Timeline
• 1504: More decided to remain as a layman for standing
election to Parliament. More was eventually elected to
Parliament to represent Great Yarmouth.
• 1505: More is believed to have resided at the
Charterhouse, most likely in the guest quarters, before
eventually getting married with Jane Colt in the same
year.
• 1515: More was nominated to a delegation that was
dispatched to Bruges to negotiate commercial
arrangements with Holy Roman Empire authorities. Then
he told Peter Gilles, who was the Town Clerk of Antwerp,
about his experiences.
• 1516: Utopia was published. It is a 110-page discussion
that represents humanism. Utopia achieved popularity at
Louvain, Belgium almost immediately following its
publication.
• 1518: Other publishers’ critique More's Latin epigrams,
questioning why the people adore him so much in Utopia,
given that he did nothing more than write what someone
else said. Comparing the substance of Utopia to
numerous author's epigrams reveals similarities in the
author's likely political and ethical philosophy.
A Latin term called epigramma, which means "an
inscription," is the source of the word “epigram”. The fact
that epigrams are very brief poetry, proverbs, or well-
known phrases.
• 1557: Utopia was designed not only for entertainment but
also as a way of expressing More’s opinion without
exposing himself to criticism.
The first collected version of Sir Thomas More's
vernacular writings, The Works of Sir Thomas More, was
released, the same year that Queen Mary had converted
England back to the Catholic faith.
PART 3
What does Utopia say?
• Utopia suggests a reform of criminal sentencing.
• Utopia points out “the irrational barbarity of capital
punishment for theft”.
• Capital punishment is the legal authorized killing of
someone as punishment for a crime.
• Utopia argues that the only way to reduce the number of
thieves is to reduce the number of people who must either
steal or starve.
• Hythloday took the position that the death penalty was
altogether too severe a penalty for theft and suggested
that it would be better to seek for remedies to eliminate
the causes of thievery.
• Utopia does not represent a positive ideal, but a negative
attack on European wickedness.
• Utopia contains an appeal addressed to us that we
should try and do each share to mend our own selves and
ease the burden of our fellow-men, to improve mankind
and prepare for the life to come.
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Utopia is a book that earnestly talks and abounds in practical
suggestions. The book is written by a scholarly Englishman
who, in its own way, attacks the chief political and social evils
in that particular time. Furthermore, Utopia suggests that
authorized killing should be a punishment for a crime,
particularly theft. It also suggests a system of penal service
(alternative to hanging).
The book suggests an ideal way of life, organized in the best
way possible, and offers a model of perfection, which many
may perceive as impossible. Moreover, Utopian civilization
includes arranging for prospective brides and bridegrooms to
inspect one another naked before committing themselves,
which seems questionable and raises rhetorical questions.
Utopia is not a positive ideal, rather a negative attack on
European wickedness.
PART 4
Utopian Society seems a perfect society to line into. It offers
the material benefits of a welfare state which provides every
member of the community with food, clothing, housing,
education, and medical treatments. Working hours are
relatively short- 6 hours a day. Yet this society provides no
privacy, you cannot even travel without a special permit.
‘Everyone has his eye on you’.
Utopian Society is considered a Patriarchal Society. Once a
month wives have to kneel down before their husbands to
confess their sins and ask for forgiveness. As for males,
there’s no provision made for their domestic shortcomings
PENAL CODES FOR SEXUAL MATTERS
Pre-marital sex – compulsory celibacy for life
Adultery – slavery and death when repeated
• ‘Noplacia’ as Mr. Windbag call Utopia. Obviously no place
to live in.
• More was a religious person until the day he died. He
subscribed to Authoritarian Morals, was attracted to
monastic life, lived the living conditions of the monks in
the Charterhouse, and secretly wore a hair shirt (A hair
shirt is a shirt made of rough uncomfortable cloth which
some religious people used to wear to punish
themselves).
- To a man of such habits and beliefs, the life in Utopia
must have seemed among its greatest blessings.
• More’s (epigrammata, 1520, p.67, No. 140)
‘If you let your wife stand on your toe tonight, she’ll stand
on your face first thing tomorrow morning’
- More never seems to have regarded women as wholly
rational creatures. As for sexual intercourse, he did not
value it as much as we do. ‘he enjoyed such things when
they came his way, but did not go in search of them.’
• One man could enjoy vast wealth while thousands
starved, hanged for stealing food and had no freedom of
speech, not even a freedom of thought – This was
England when Utopia was written.
PART 5
The life of St Thomas More is well known partly because of a
play written by Robert Bolt entitled A
Man for All Seasons. It premiered in July 1960 in London.
Another detailed biography is Peter Acroyd’s The Life of
Thomas More (London, 1998)
PART 6
Utopian Literature
• More's Utopia inspired a literary genre with over 3,000
examples listed in L.T. Sargent's British and American
Utopian Literature (Boston, Mass., 1979). The genre
dates to Homer.
• In the Odyssey, the fortunate dead enjoy a "life of ease"
in the Elysian Fields under ideal conditions. (Lucian later
turned Elysium into a holiday hotel with nightingale music
and self-filling wine glasses)
• A communist society with free love and sexual equality is
described in greater detail in Plato's Republic.
• Plato described the lost civilization of Atlantis in Timaeus
and Critias. It had a network of canals and hot and cold
water pipes throughout the island.
• In Aristophanes's play Ecclesiazusae, the Athens women
seize power from the men and establish a communist
regime.
Early Utopian Fiction and History
• Early utopian fiction included fantastic traveler's tales, like
Pliny's Natural History or Lucian's True History.
• The Hyperborei engage in euthanasia in a manner that is
analogous to that of Pliny's Utoians.
• In Lucian's description of life on the moon, the male-only
population is responsible for reproduction, wears flexible
glass clothing, subsists on smoke, and finds baldness
extremely attractive.
• In the history of Diodorus Siculus (first century BC), a man
named Iambulus visits a "happy island" in the south,
where euthanasia is mandatory for cripples, invalids, and
everyone over a statutory age limit, and where women
and children are considered public property.
Utopian Contribution and Development
• More's most notable contribution to the evolution of the
genre was the addition of topical realism to the mixture of
paradisiacal, political, and travelogical elements in
Iambulus.
• Joseph Hall invented the satirical dystopia in 1606 with
Mundus Alter et Idem (Another World and Yet the Same),
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which satirizes real northern hemisphere countries by RELIGION AND SCIENCE
describing fictional southern hemisphere countries.
• The nations of England and Germany (Gohuaer) were - In The New Atlantis, religion and science are
ridiculed as Pamphagonia and Yvronia (Alleatia and intertwined. Bensalem is mysterious, intangible, and
Drunkia), whose primary industries consisted of eating concealed from the rest of the world as if by God's
and drinking. intervention and providence, which could only damage
• Despite its flippant tone, this book created a subgenre of and disturb the perfection of this commonwealth.
utopian fiction that included Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's
- The secrecy of New Atlantis distinguishes it apart from
Travels (1726), Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
(1932), and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four More's Utopia, which attempts to shed light on every
(1949). single detail of his plan for a better society. He is
completely transparent about the structure and operation
The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon of his universe, with the exception of the unknowable
history and past of Utopia.
A representation of development, of the belief in science and
- The people of Bensalem are categorically Christians, and
technology which intended to eventually result in human
they adhere to the same general body of scripture. After
mastery over nature.
all that has been mentioned about the symbolic value of
PLACE AND LOCATION light to them, it is particularly interesting that they were
converted to Christianity by a vision of a pillar of
- The South Sea is where Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis is
light.
situated. It derives its name from the mythological island
- The Bensalemites' tolerance of different religions is
that, according to Plato’s dialogues “Timaios” and
noticeably less than in More's Utopia. They are distinct
“Kritias”, sank into the sea.
from the few Jews who are permitted to dwell among
- The island of Bensalem seems to be isolated from the
them. They have, in a sense, adapted their own beliefs
rest of the world, just like Utopia, but there are striking
to reflect those of Christians in other areas of the
differences that become evident through history,
world, and as a result, the Bensalemites embrace them.
Bensalem has ties to ancient history; it was previously
closely associated with various civilizations. MORAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS AND VALUES
- In contrast to Utopia, Bensalem's history and progress
- The expansion of knowledge is given top importance,
are clearly intertwined with highly advanced
and everyone who contributes significantly to that goal is
civilizations of the ancient world. The people of New
honored and generously compensated: A statue of him
Atlantis managed to take advantage of the knowledge
will be created and displayed in a room with other notable
and achievements of other cultures without being
innovators.
exposed to any other part of the world.
- Marriage is valued highly, and it is viewed as “a solution
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ORDER for concupiscence“, which the Bensalemites are said to
notice in Europe, which is widely regarded as an impure
- It is a monarchy that reportedly has a resemblance to
and immoral area.
the contemporary Jacobean government in Britain.
- Polygamy is prohibited, yet contrary to Utopia, there
Consequently, New Atlantis is probably not the ideal of a
are no severe penalties specified for offenders. The
man who was dissatisfied with the structure of his own
parents of the prospective couple must consent to the
state, as some critics have noted.
marriage; otherwise, the children will only be permitted to
- Contrary to Utopia, Bensalem's society is clearly
inherit a third of their parent's property from that marriage.
hierarchically organized, and people's differences in
status are openly displayed by their attire, jewelry, and LAWS AND CUSTOMS
other possessions of wealth and power.
- Bensalem’s system includes “humanity and policy
- Lack of individualism and communal living in big
together,” for instance, despite all prejudices against
families under the control of the Tirsan, the Father of the
immigrants, those in need are given kind assistance and
Family, who ensures the maintenance of peace, could be
support. They maintain a well-equipped Strangers' House
seen as a comparison to Utopia, as well as harmony
for that purpose.
within his family. Everyone should talk with their family
before making any decisions.
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CONCLUSION
- More’s Utopia and Bacon’s new Atlantis represent two
different “variations on the same concept”: designing an
ideal society.
- Class systems and private property are no longer an
issue in Utopia, yet they still exist in Bensalem.
- Thomas More provides a detailed description of the
political system in Utopia, which features a democratic
constitution. Bacon doesn't address political or
constitutional issues in Bensalem. Instead, his utopia is a
scientifically advanced society called New Atlantis,
where "the riches of science and technology have
made political rule unnecessary."
- The Utopian society aspires to equality and social justice;
whether or not these ideas are put into reality is
debatable, but this fundamental principle is undeniably
there. Bensalem's social structure, which has been
compared to an "elitist meritocracy," is markedly
different from Utopia in this regard: Science is not seen
as a common endeavor, and the chosen professionals
who do scientific research are explicitly distinguished
from the rest of the population.
Overall, both utopian worlds strive to organize their
commonwealth in a way that is beneficial for both the
state and society. Each of them is conceived as a happy,
successful, peaceful, and morally upright society where
everything is abundant. However, they emphasize very
different things: In Utopia, the major goal is to make sure
that every member of the society has a happy and healthy
existence. According to them, this may be accomplished by
creating a classless communist society in which everyone has
equal rights and opportunities. However, Bensalem depicts
a world that is materialistic, where class structure and
private property are existent. The fundamental goal is
advancement in science and technology since it provides
control over nature.
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS TRIED
Looking Backward (1887) by Edward Bellamy
A utopian story about a Bostonian from the nineteenth
century who wakes up in the year 2000 to find himself in a
world of almost perfect collaboration, harmony, and
prosperity.
- Utopian fiction envisions an America in the year 2000 with
nationalized industry, equitable economic distribution,
and the eradication of class distinctions.
- According to Bellamy, who encouraged many people to
embrace socialism, "Looking Backward was written in the
assumption that the Golden Age lay before us and not
behind us, and is not far away." In 1887, a group of people
in the state of Washington attempted to create a society
based on Bellamy's books. Their communist utopia
was known as The Equality Colony. The book Equality
by Bellamy is where they earned their name. They
believed that the people of Washington would be inspired
by their colony to make the entire state socialist.
The Coming Race (1871) by Lord Lytton
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton used the enigmatic "Vril" as a
source of energy to build a subterranean realm populated
by intelligent beings. The narrator is stranded very deep
within the Earth. The human-like Vril-ya, an advanced
race that has developed underground, saves him. They
have created powerful weaponry, automata serve them,
and they fly on artificial wings. The Vril-ya have created a
technological utopia free from violence and anarchy
with the help of these technologies, including robotic
servants that are "so pliant to the operations of vril, that
they truly seem blessed with reason."
Man in the Moon (1638) by Francis Godwin
- Britain was undergoing many changes in the seventeenth
century, and science was gaining respect as a force that
was accelerating developments by challenging the
belthat the church had imposed since the Middle Ages
and by enabling new discoveries achievements for
mankind.
- The book critiques the institutions of its own period by
offering a utopian alternative these innovative
concepts and communicates them in a subtle narration.
The First Men in the Moon (1901) by H.G. Wells
- The story of humanity's first visit to and contact with life
on the moon is portrayed as one of H.G. Wells's great
books, The First Men in the Moon. The spaceship that
Misters Bedford and Cavor use is round. After finding a
basic substance that deflects Earth's gravity and hence
provides the propulsion required to launch the vehicle,
Mr. Cavor develops the ship. Both the voyage and the
lunar landing are challenging. Due to the moon's weaker
gravitational pull, the guys are astounded at their
improved skills.
News from Nowhere (1890) by William Morris
- In 1890, William Morris published his utopian book News
from Nowhere. In his vision of the future, Morris
establishes a pastoral paradise as the framework for
democratic management and community ownership
of the production of essential goods. A guy who
awakens on the banks of the Thames after being
transported hundreds of years into the future tells the tale
PHILO
in the first person. There is no private property,
industrialization, monetary system, or capitalism in this
area that has undergone transformation. Each person in
society cooperates with others and enjoys their
employment. The narrator reluctantly goes back to his
own time, but he is determined to bring about this future.
THREE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE GENRE:
1. Feminist Utopia
- Emerged in the 1970s, Feminist Utopia imagines a
society that is radically different from patriarchal society.
It envisages a world free of gender disparity, one in which
men and women are not constrained by their historical
roles of inequity. These writings frequently take place in
completely male-free settings (Napikoski, 2018).
- Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time (1979), in
which a Mexican-American prisoner in a New York
mental hospital escapes in his dreams to a picture-perfect
Massachusetts village in 2137, may serve as an example
of feminist utopia.
Woman on the Edge of Time explores the body as a location
of resistance and takes the audience on a journey through
revolution and defiance. Marge Piercy's masterfully created
narrative, like many of her captivating literary masterpieces, is
driven by endearingly observed and sympathetically flawed
people. In her writing, Piercy provides voice to women's
relationships and experiences, frequently including queer
women and women of color, as in this novel (Evans, 2012).
- The feminist utopian resurgence comprises a wide range
of titles and authors. Aside from Ursula Le Guin, radical
feminists such as Joanna Russ and Monique Wittig wrote
feminist separatist utopias such as The Female Man and
Les Guérillères.
- This tendency continues into the 1980s, with feminist
writers such as linguist Suzette Haden Elgin's Native
Tongue series, in which linguists govern the world—but
there is still a lot of gender inequality. Then there's Joan
Slonczewski's magnificent A Door into the Ocean, in
which aquatic purple ladies take pacifism to its logical
conclusion when they are attacked by militants.
In Napikoski (2018), other examples of feminist utopia
include:
Early feminist utopias:
- City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan
- Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Contemporary feminist utopia novels:
- Works by Marge Piercy
- The Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart
2. Scientist’s Utopia
- The second development, the scientist's utopia, is more
noteworthy for its author's authority than for its content.
Except for Francis Bacon, authors of scientific utopias
have often had little knowledge of science; nonetheless,
genuine scientists have lately infiltrated the visionary
genre with informed forecasts.
- Michio Kaku's Visions: How Science Will
Revolutionize the Twenty-First Century (1998) was
published by a distinguished physicist after interviewing
over 150 other scientists. Although largely factual, the
book includes a fictional element in a section that
describes a typical day in the year 2020.
- The great scientific revolutions that have profoundly
changed the twentieth century—quantum physics,
biogenetics, and artificial intelligence—are examined by
Michio Kaku, who offers a comprehensive overview of the
current state of science and how it will impact our future
(Reason and Meaning, 2016).
- Furthermore, Michio Kaku's vision of the science of the
future is based on the ground-breaking research being
conducted in labs today as well as the consensus of over
150 of Kaku's scientific colleagues, which is what makes
it so captivating and different from the conventional
projections of other thinkers.
In 1623, The New Atlantis was written by Francis Bacon and
his work expresses his ideals interwoven into the story of an
unknown island. In other words, its potential as an
independent land mastered by science and kept secret by the
rest of the world has been expressed.
- Pertinent to that, Bacon portrays a utopian community
of scientists engaged in the gathering and analysis of
data of all types in accordance with the third element of
the great recovery plan. The island of Bensalem, which
lies somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, is home to the New
Atlantis, which is an attractive and desirable place with a
vibrant social and cultural life.
In Stamenova (2008), while St. Thomas More's Utopia and
the scenario in The New Atlantis are similar, Bacon's work has
a distinct overall message because in it, the prosperity and
well-being of the perfect society are a direct result of the
efforts concentrated on research and science.
Bacon's fundamental argument is straightforward: only a
clever application of research can offer the European people
the prosperity and happiness that the island's fabled residents
enjoy. To put it briefly, Bacon believed that economic
prosperity was the only way to end social contradictions,
hence the prosperity of the people of Bensalem depends on
technological advancement.
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3. Self-destruct Utopia
- The third recent development, in an odd way, devalues
both that and every other utopian idea, and for that
reason it looks certain to remain unique.
- Self-destruct utopia can be understood in the section ‘The
Dream’ which appears in Julian Barnes' book A History
of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (1989).
o The dreamer awakens in what turns out to be
Heaven, which is exquisitely customized to his
personal preferences and provides him with
everything he could possibly desire, including
physical comfort and wellbeing, an abundance
of delicious food, drink, celebrity encounters,
and golfing improvement.
- Few utopias since More's have promised immortality, but
even without it, all future authors of the genre will need to
account for the psychological law of diminishing returns,
which is so eloquently illustrated in "The Dream".
- Therefore, the question of what happens after our
deaths is explored in "The Dream". It ruminates on what
Heaven is like and what it may teach us about mortality,
history, and life (Barnes, 1989).
NOTES:
EPIGRAMMATA
- More's Utopia, which was written in Latin for a European
audience, is the prototypical humanist debate. When
Utopia was first printed in Louvain, Belgium, in 1516, it
caused a stir. The complexity of the piece ensured that
there would be almost as many interpretations as
readers, with the dialogue taking place in Antwerp
between More and a traveler who has just arrived from
freshly discovered regions. Utopia widely parodies
European civilization for its narrow-minded pursuit of
riches, lack of Christian devotion and kindness, and
unreasonableness. It also criticizes inequities in the
English criminal code. However, More's "Utopia" is not
what the word "Utopia" has come to represent today.
- More's Latin and Greek epigrams were first published in
their entirety and individually by John Froben in Basel in
1520, using manuscripts gathered by Erasmus. Many of
More's epigrams examine the issues with tyranny and
show his deep discomfort with the corruption frequently
connected with royalty.
LESSON 3: The language in St. Thomas More’s Novel
“Utopia” : A Lingua Ignota or Conlang?
UTOPIAN LANGUAGE
The Utopian language is the language of the fictional land of
Utopia, as described in Thomas More's Utopia. A brief sample
of the constructed language is found in an addendum to
More's book, written by his friend Peter Giles. Pretending to
be factual, the book does not name the creator of the
language; both More and Giles have been alternately
credited, with Giles often thought to have designed the
alphabet.
GRAMMAR
Although some words in Utopian show different forms
corresponding to different cases in the Latin translation, there
is no evidence of a consistent relationship between form and
meaning.
WRITING SYSTEM
Utopian has its own 22-letter alphabet, with letters based on
the shapes of the circle, square, and triangle. These
correspond almost exactly to the 23-letter Roman alphabet
used in the 16th century, lacking only z. The letters f, k, q, and
x, though assigned Utopian equivalents, do not occur in the
given text. There are several errors in the text (for example,
the first word is given as utopos in Latin script, but as similar-
looking stoqos in Utopian script).
A quatrain written by Peter Giles in an addendum to Utopia:
Vtopos ha Boccas peu la chama polta chamaan. Bargol he
maglomi baccan ſoma gymno ſophaon. Agrama gymnoſophon
labarembacha bodamilomin. Voluala barchin heman la
lauoluola dramme paglon
English Translation: The commander Utopus made me into an
island out of a nonisland. I alone of all nations, without
philosophy, have portrayed for mortals the philosophical city.
Freely I impart my benefits; not unwillingly I accept whatever
is better.
PHILO
UTOPIAN ALPHABET
 unknown language
 More’s Utopian was intended only to introduce readers to
an alien place where religious tolerance and universal
education were par for the course.
 The characters in the Utopian language walk the line
between Greek and geometric runes.
 It is a gobbledygook language if not for its accompanying
Latin translation, which speaks to the creation of Utopia
and its singularity as a philosophical—and aspirational—
place.
 The alphabet reflects a general humanist preoccupation
with classical Greek culture,” says Per Sivefors, a literary
scholar at Linnaeus University in Sweden who
specializes in early modern writing. “A word like
gymnosophaon is clearly made up to sound Greek.”
The very title of the book means ‘nowhere’, yet at the same
time, the various visual devices, including … the woodcut
maps that were in the editions of 1516 and 1518, somehow
compel readers to see this as a ‘real’ place populated by real
people with a real language.”
CONLANG
 A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a
language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary,
instead of having developed naturally, are consciously
devised for some purpose, which may include being
devised for a work of fiction.
 A constructed language may also be referred to as an
artificial, planned or invented language, or (in some
cases) a fictional language.
 There are many possible reasons to create a constructed
language, such as to ease human communication (see
international auxiliary language and code); to give fiction
or an associated constructed setting an added layer of
realism; for experimentation in the fields of linguistics,
cognitive science, and machine learning; for artistic
creation; and for language games. Some people may
also make constructed languages as a hobby.
Fictional Examples of Conlang:
DOTHRAKI
- One of the most common, and impressive, fictional
languages is Dothraki. Constructed for HBO’s Game of
Thrones series which was based on George R.R. Martin’s
novels.
- Taking inspiration from Greek, Anglo-Saxon and Gothic
languages – as well as The Lord of the Rings franchise –
the Dothraki language was constructed by Martin and
completed by David J. Peterson.
- A language created with its users in mind, Dothraki has
14 words for “horse” but no words for toilet or thank you
– words the Dothraki tribe just don’t need.
ESPERANTO
 One of the most popular examples of a constructed
language is Esperanto. This is an auxiliary language that
was invented by Polish doctor, Ludovic Zamenhof, in the
19th century.
 It’s a simple, easy to learn language that was created in
the name of unity and individualism.
 Believing that natural languages are inherently
entrenched in negative history, he set out to construct a
new language in a bid to offer humankind a new
beginning.
 Today there are an estimated 2 million speakers of
Esperanto across the globe. It has simple vocabulary and
grammar, with much of the phrasing inspired by the
Romance languages – making it easy to learn and
understand.
SOLRESOL
 Solresol is a language constructed by Jean-François
Sudre. It was originally named “la Langue musicale
universelle”, translating to the international music
language
 This language was created using seven syllables which
were borrowed from the foundations of music – do, re,
me, fa, so, la, and ti. A fitting choice since Sudre was a
violinist by trade!
 Solresol was the first constructed language to be taken
seriously, especially as the logic was sound. Sudre made
the language simple and easy to understand in the hope
that it would encourage international communication.
 However, it failed to become widely popular.
Nevertheless, it is still commendable for being the first
and only language in the world to be musically based.
ELVISH
 Elvish is a constructed language used within the fantasy
world of The Lord of the Rings.
 A famous and intricate language that began in the early
1900’s when Tolkein penned the iconic novels. Based on
Welsh and Finnish, Elvish is used within Middle Earth and
split into two dialects, Quenya and Sindarin.
 It has enough phrases to form a basic conversation but
not for a fluent language as it’s incomplete. Fans of the
franchise have made attempts to extend the language
and create their own poetry, fiction and conversations
from it.
PHILO
Conlang is short for "constructed language," such as a
language the writer, their friend, or some other associate has
made up for the purpose of using in a book or show. In Real
Life, an auxiliary language or "auxlang" is a conlang intended
for use by real-world groups.
QUESTION: The Utopian language in St. Thomas More book
“Utopia” most likely created to give creativity to the literary
text?
LESSON 4: Integrating St. Thomas More’s Philosophy to
21st Century Academic Disciplines
Utopian works have entertained generations throughout
history. Much like more recent genres including science-fiction
novels or movies, utopian works stimulate the mind and
ultimately cause its readers to question whether an author’s
design of such a place, or society, is possible in the real world.
While some may perceive the purpose of utopias to be
completely fantasy-driven, there is a great deal of scholarly
literature that dedicates itself to proving otherwise. More
specifically, many scholars argue that utopias are serious and
practical, ultimately aimed at re-shaping the entire political
structure of a society.
- To understand the more pragmatic side of utopian writing
by determining the political purposes of three specific
utopias: Thomas More’s Utopia (1516), James
Harrington’s The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656), and
Johann Valentin Andreae’s Christianopolis (1619).
Is it possible for utopias to have real world political
purposes?
More’s writing of Utopia caused a surge of other works very
similar to his own and encouraged those living during the
Renaissance in Europe to speak out against the political
suffering that citizens were enduring under unequal rule.
While these utopias mattered to the citizens living during the
Renaissance, the question arises: in what way do these
utopias apply to the politics of today?
Thomas More's Utopia mentions numerous political
tribulations that our current society is unable to decipher.
More presents his reader with the question: What is the
proper punishment for criminals who steal from others?
More’s central character, Raphael Hythloday proposes in his
vehement debate with the Cardinal from England that
criminals be recognized and somehow rehabilitated
Hythloday, like many anti-death penalty advocates, asserts
that human life is to be valued and regarded as the highest
good.
Hythloday claims that there have to be programs to correct
behaviors to avoid criminals from repeating the same crime
repetitively.
What is the best type of government in society?
Is it a of system democracy?
A monarchical form of government?
PHILO
For More, the answer is a form of socialism that caters to the
needs of the entire community, rather than a single tyrant or
group of leaders.
What is socialism?
It is a political, social and economic philosophy encompassing
a range of economic and social systems characterized by
social ownership of the means of production and workers' self-
management of enterprises. It includes the political theories
and movements associated with such systems.
Social ownership can be public, collective, cooperative or of
equity. While no single definition encapsulates many types of
socialism. Social ownership is the one common element. It
aims to circumvent the inefficiencies and crises traditionally
associated with capital accumulation and the profit system in
capitalism.
Socialism in Utopia has the ability to prevent inequality
between citizens and class groups from continuing.
In Utopia all of the citizens are allotted the same of everything.
More's work addresses the serious problem of valuing goods
over virtue and morality in society and corrected the problem
in his utopia by making goods worthless and principled values
indispensable. In More's world, virtue, morality, and equality
were the key to making a society just and a government thrive.
Such notions described by More that our current society is still
trying to piece together.
HOW SECONDARY LITERATURE REVIEWS UTOPIA
• Some academics have claimed that More’s distaste for
haughty pride within leadership and government is what
drove him to compose Utopia.
• Other scholarship will cite that it was More’s belief in
humanism that inclined him to write about ideas of virtue
and morality being reinstated into society.
• Other authors of the secondary works will try to argue that
Utopia was intended to be a real place, not a fictional
story.
In Christianopolis, by Johann Andreae there is a familiar
assessment of how overconsumption ruins morality in
societies, similar to the one offered in More's Utopia:
Andreae claims, like More, that money and goods should
not be the object of everyone's appetite, but rather a
rededication to virtue.
• Andreae calls for the serious and unrelenting worshiping
of Christianity and science.
• More looks to create equality among the citizens of the
utopian state, Andreae focuses more on virtue at the
individual level.
• Citizens have to take responsibility for their own actions
and morality; each person in Christianopolis must choose
whether or not he or she wants to live in “the gated
community” that dedicates itself to God
• Christianopolis focuses on rehabilitating those 5 people
who are lost in the never-ending cycle of consumption
and meaninglessness who want to change their lives
through educating themselves by dedicating their entire
life to God and science.
• Scholars of Christianopolis suggest that Andreae wrote
because it was an open outlet for him to espouse his
personal beliefs, especially his Hermetic conceptions.
• These ideas, which tied together to science and religion,
were what Andreae based the entire city of
Christianopolis
JAMES HARRINGTON’S THE COMMONWEALTH OF
OCEANA
• Harrington's piece looks to ensure that citizens are no
longer powerless in relation to their government.
• Just as today where many citizens who live under
oppressive governments have no real say in what their
government is doing or how it operates, Harrington had
seen firsthand what happened when so-called
governments had excluded their citizens from any
political engagement.
Harrington lived a tumultuous time under the English Civil
War.
Presumed that the only way for an ideal society is through a
balance relationship between the citizens and the state.
• Harrington, a civic republican, suggested that there
be land ownership by the people, not just the state,
since by owning land they would also own a piece of
political power, which in Harrington's time was typically
reserved for rulers and governments.
• Harrington's Oceana speaks to the continuous battle that
often occurs in states where a government reigns
supreme and its people are left to subject to its every rule.
Should citizens today be given more representation?
Land? Leadership roles?
The secondary literature will agree that Harrington wrote with
the intent for his agrarian law to become an actual policy in
the English government.
PHILO
• Although these writings are centuries old, the issues and
problems being discussed in these works continue to
exist in our current political world. Among those problems
that we still struggle with are: inequality amongst citizens,
unjust practices and laws, and the seemingly never-
ending battle with power overshadowing virtue in
government and society.
• Each work tries to persuade to its reader that the political
realm ought to operate in particular ways instead of only
portraying how unfit rulers force it to work in bad or
corrupt ways.

ANALYZING THE PHILOSOPHY OF ST. THOMAS MORE

THROUGH THE LENS OF ANOTHER SUBJECT

Discuss the relationship of PSTM to Contemporary World

subject:

- Integration of states
- Justice and penal system
- Politics
- Religion
- Real life scenario
- Examples of Utopian politics that are still applicable
today