Introduction
The concept of an ideal life forms the core of utopia according to Saint Thomas More who developed it in the beginning of the 16th century. His ideas follow the prevailing challenges in the social, political and economic situation of England at this time. In his book titled Utopia published in 1516, More shows different people in their vain attempt to achieve their ideals.
In his utopian Book I, Moore conceptualized the idea of utopia out of strict adherence to moral and knowledge when he sailed to an island south of England. In his views, utopia refers to an ideal and imaginary island like the one they encountered during their voyage in the North. From the onset of his writing, More leant the importance of travelling not merely as of beauty but as an activity with meaning and appropriate justification to learn more from the environment.
Utopian ideology embraces all areas of human life with the intention of bringing them happiness, power and creating expectancies. When Thomas More and his friends arrived in New Castle, Prince the ruler of the Utopian islands gave them a warm welcome and gave them all they needed to stay as they waited to leave for their next destination.
Utopia Book I
Thomson More thought out a land with plenty of resources in a highly productive land that had many inhabitants. Despite meeting difficulties in the first period of entry into the island, the situation gets better as they travel more into the sea. They get to see exciting places and meet people who receive them warmly. While travelling under the interest of Prince Henry the VIII, More meets Peter Giles and Raphael Hythloday who form the two main characters in his book. In this part we explore the utopia of happiness. According to Thomas More, the idea of utopia in Book I, a person(s) lives in utopia when they assume a state of merry physically or virtually away from their normal place of residence. In their daily struggle, every person seeks happiness and would even assume a state of happiness if they lack it where they stay. Many people create their own happiness in their minds to fulfill their longing for the excitement (More I 2).
Raphael’s utopianism appears when his concerns of better conditions of living compared to those which prevailed at the time, as he illustrates the pictures of a place they visited in the past. More uses Raphael to illustrate the presence of a new location useful in marketing their non metallic material. He explains as though he had lived the whole of his life, many times in real life, people tend to seek after their needs with desired commitments as they wish to put up with new things, people and places. Raphael’s excitement leads him to asking More about his intentions with the monarch and why he has not taken over authority for this is their nation, he knows more very minimum thing in this location.
We first meet a socio-academic utopia in Raphael when he notes that Mores’ elevated Mores position in the monarch would make him happier. Raphael talks of a condition where he treasures his education so much that his wisdom coupled with the knowledge cannot allow his will to go hostage of any king to serve him. While More admires Raphael, we can clearly see the intricate of Raphael’s happiness. In fact, view of monarch’s preoccupation with issues of war disgraces his knowledge of monarch and the happiness of the entire workers in this system. In his view, knowledge should bring permanent peace and not war as it is common in most monarchs (More I 5).
Raphael also finds no happiness in the lives of ministers whose best communication revolves around any technical assistance that never comes from genuine people or fiends. Instead the ministers find cheap lies more appealing to their subjects who do not need to know about the latest business in the kingdom. In his view this are a people held hostage by their office responsibilities and the king’s interest vested in their efforts. This justification on why he may require to delay work in the site of the king lead readers towards believe that Raphael rests his mind in permanent utopia as his views can only help up to pay for his basic interest. The main cause of Raphael’s pride and happiness blinds his opinions to present well before More’s lawyer.
Utopia 2: Money
In his utopia, Raphael argued that the aristocracy of classical philosophers played an important role in motivating people to steal. He bases his argument on the view that not everybody can engage in business faithfully and succeed. Thus, beyond farming in productive areas, engaging in trade to generate revenue and unite the society towards some unified course. At Cardinal Morton’s house, Raphael introduces us to an English lawyer who had high tendency of sentencing thieves to hash punishment of the law. Despite the fact that the subsistence farmers faced destabilization from frequent movement to and fro in their residences in England leaves us in believing that money scored little in their priority. Nonetheless, the lawyer maintained that those who steal out of any situation that might justify their course; they just have to face hanging. As the cardinals remain with no remedy for the punishment or the act, Raphael gets motivating to the readers when he suggest that people must find ways of desisting from such habits that give the society a bad name (Thomas and Booker 75).
As much as the society glorified money, human life could take the second place in the laws of the land. But Raphael’s argument that the law punishing a thief should be in consistent with the divine laws, flops at More’s presentation of the value of money and how money begets money. In the view of Thomas More, reinvesting money back into the economy through treasures such as gold forms the basis of a stable economy instead of stealing the money for individual interests. These concepts made significant changes in the lives of Europeans at the time that got inspiration and motivation from the works of Thomas more. In essence, those who failed to experience mental utopia like the prisoners and unlucky slaves ended up in dystopia. Unfortunately they could not get money. Instead they depended on the working group to give them manna (More 23).
Utopia 3: Values/Morals
In classical ordinances, Thomas More presents certain utopian behaviors as very rewarding to those who believe in them. More envisioned a utopian world of ideal morals where each person respects their elders and shows obedient to their parents. In his humble perspective, people should value their families and serve the interests of every member. Living in utopia means that wives must serve their husbands in great love and submission as children owe their parents. His litany of family love, that runs through the mother, from the father, to the children in the family, demands humility and deep respect. He never delays in identifying the special parks in reward to persons who uphold the social values he narrates in the Book I.
Perhaps in an ideal situation, Thomas More introduces us to the environmental social beliefs of utopians; utopians never kill animals for the sake of enjoying an expedition. Utopians consider hunting as immoral in the conservative ideology of utopians. Only in isolated cases do utopians kill animals. This includes sacrifices offered to God for atonement of the evil committed by the people to one another and to the supreme God. In general, this practice is common among utopians and even ordinary Christians of this day. All disciples of Saint Thomas More embrace these values as worship without sacrifice for a fallen man does not appeal to God. In addition, God’s presence in the utopian world rests in the core of human virtues practiced and not merely uttered in empty rhetoric (Schaer, Claeys, Sargent, and New York Public Library 46).
In particular, utopians highly hold to the notions of community life. This theory emanates from the law of god that emphasizes love for one another based on the love of oneself. From More’s perspective, utopian Europeans at the time valued their neighbors’ work and the fruits of their labor. They believed in sharing work as visitors who would spend many days in a particular visit find it ideally appealing to partake in the activities of the people in that particular country. On the basis of loving your neighbor as yourself, utopians firmly believe in personal hygiene and all means used to keep the body fit and healthy. Personal attention to individual activity, mental state and physical predisposition to function in the intent of God is a primary concern of utopians. In the philosophy of Saint Thomas More, believers in this school of thought take bodily involvement in rewarding activity scores more in their practices as opposed to just staying idle. The idealist world of Thomas More believed in the virtue of love based on God’s laws to the latter. Any form of intimacy before marriage definitely led to chastisement. Since utopianism forbade polygamy and made it very difficult to obtain a divorce, marriage took centre stage as the most important form of reward or punishment as the interplay between love and respect could only find relevance in the union of two mutually related persons in the institution of marriage (More II 46).
Thomas Jefferson echoed the utopians value for freedom and equality. In the view of Jefferson’s utopian ideology, all people are equal in the eyes of God. Deriving from the premise of equal creation, Jefferson maintained that people assume rights inherent in them that condition them to pursue happiness and freedom. This confirms the utopians’ willingness to serve their fellow community members. In essence, this practice inculcated the art of humanity in the utopian world and increased their degrees of freedom to challenge tyrants as Saint Thomas More used animations to attack totalitarian corrupt leadership of London in the time. More’s conviction about the plight of Slaves and tyrants follows his utopian beliefs that from creation, God empowered both male and female equally and wanted every person to exercise their own freedom.
With their earnest belief in God, Utopians persistently embattled authorities that did not conform to the requirement of God’s laws because these laws formed the foundation of their very existence. Similarly, the claims of Thomas Jefferson at independence declaration portrayed his belief in a utopian system. In his address to the Virginia delegation to the continental congress, Jefferson maintained sincerity and composure while working at his discretion to put down his oratory speeches that scored the confidence of his fellow statesmen (Bleich 12).
In the American struggle for independence that saw it come to the day of independence, Thomas Jefferson had in his belief, a utopian ideology that human freedom and the respect for humanity formed the core of people’s existence (United States, Jefferson and Fink 23). This led to his endless attempts to abolish slavery in the American continent (Jayne xii). Through his devotion Jefferson did a lot of work in shaping the ideologies on which the current American civilization is based. Though Jefferson was passive in his attempts to stop slavery in America, one must admit that he made unrecognized efforts in terms of legislative changes that saw the elimination of slavery. This is reflected in drafting the ‘Declaration of Independence’ in 1776.
In his work, Jefferson states that, “The colonists have the right to rebel against the British government and establish their own government based on the premise that all men are created equal and have the inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Jayne 176; United States et al 23). The rebellion/ abolition would come from the government/authority in power trying to alter these rights (life, liberty and, pursuit of happiness) (United States et al 23). Moreover, it was Jefferson’s efforts that inspired the Northwest Ordinance that permanently wiped out slavery from the American continent (Jayne xii). Jefferson’s activities show that it is possible for an individual to change the world around him/her for the better and contribute positively to the lives of the whole population. While Jefferson believed in utopia that could come through armed struggle, More’s belief in utopia led him to a firm belief in God’s role in giving human freedom and as the solitary head of the church. In the event that he refused to accept the King as the head of the church, the King beheaded him to prove his wrath to those who defy him but this did not end the imaginary world of utopians. Throughout his work, this incident marks the antidote of all dystopia in the book (Wells 25).
We as individuals have the capability to contribute much on the welfare of others rather than just our own self welfare. To start with, we can develop positive attitudes, which are contagious. In other words, the attitudes about life that we hold can be transmitted to other people so that we may change their perception about certain aspects of life. Attitudes do make major differences in life. Positive attitudes will contribute immensely to the welfare of the human life and existence. In the context of utopia, happiness is an attitude. In the pursuit of happiness and positive living we as individuals can impact positively in other people’s lives by transmitting positive attitudes towards healthy and happy living for the welfare of all people in our society. This way we will not only have made ourselves benefit from positive thinking and approach to life, but also help other people in their pursuit of happiness. For example, today we are talking of healthy eating so as to check on our weight, cholesterol levels and, avoidance of related diseases like diabetes. Positive attitudes are very vital in the realization of the ultimate goal, “healthy living”. We as individuals can help many others in the society on healthy eating and regular exercising and inculcate these attitudes to all people in the society top realize happiness and positive living and coexistence in life.
Conclusion
More used his talent just as Jefferson to portray their innermost desire to see a perfect world where people live according to some higher standards. Thomas More’s visualization of a world where people preserved nature and lived harmoniously with one another according to God’s law earned him the canonization of a Saint after his death. His achievements in academia, social and political career and the imagination of a Utopian world forever remain a motivation to many people who envy him for his socio-economic contributions. As individuals we can also contribute to the welfare of other people through changing their attitudes to embrace positive attitudes towards life in the pursuit of happiness. Through positivity in facing life and in our daily living we inculcate a culture of happiness and healthy living which will ultimately contribute to the welfare of humanity in all aspects of life.
Works Cited
- Bleich, David. Utopia: the psychology of cultural fantasy. Michigan: University of Michigan Institute research Press. 1984. Print.
- Jayne, Allen. Jefferson’s declaration of independence: origins, philosophy, and theology. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2000. Print.
- Moore, Sir Thomas. Utopia. New York: NuVision Publication, LLC. 2007. Print.
- More, Sir Thomas (Saint). Robinson, Ralph and Sacks, David (ed.) Utopia: The Bedford series in history and culture. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 1999. Print.
- More, Thomas, Sir Saint, and Lupton J. H. The utopian of Sir Thomas more. London, UK: Bibliobazaar, LLC. 2009. Print.
- More, Thomas. Utopia. London, UK: Adamant Media Corporations. 2005.
- Schaer, Roland, Claeys Gregory, Sargent Lyman, and New York Public Library. Utopia: the Search for the ideal society in the western World. New York: Oxford University Press. 2000. Print.
- Thomas, Marie-Anne and Booker, Keith. The science fiction handbook. Malden, MA: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.
- United States, Thomas Jefferson, and Sam Finch. The Declaration of Independence. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2002. Print.
- Wells, H. G. A modern utopia. London, UK: First world library, 2006. Print.