Saint Thomas More

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Utopia

Thomas More

Utopia (Penguin Classics)

there are a lot of great points regarding societal issues that still occurs to this day but i’m afraid that utopia is not as perfect as he tries to tell. i get that most of the ideals possessed by utopia should’ve been practiced to avoid injustice and corruption in governance but some of them i don’t understand.. he lost me at the marriage part (it reeks misogyny) i mean this still happens but to have this same thinking on a fantasy country is crazy! don’t even start me at how weird the woman must be presented naked in front of the husband to check for any “flaws”. and the fact that they also do not punish men (especially priests because apparently they sacrificed themselves to god so they can just live with regret to eat them alive lol) as severely for committing crimes.. yeah no. 

the slave part is odd too why would they normalize slavery in a country so called perfect ? 

but overall i do not regret reading this book, i just think that some of his views are hypocritical.

ayoni

there are a lot of great points regarding societal issues that still occurs to this day but i’m afraid that utopia is not as perfect as he tries to tell. i get that most of the ideals possessed by utopia should’ve been practiced to avoid injustice and corruption in governance but some of them i don’t understand.. he lost me at the marriage part (it reeks misogyny) i mean this still happens but to have this same thinking on a fantasy country is crazy! don’t even start me at how weird the woman must be presented naked in front of the husband to check for any “flaws”. and the fact that they also do not punish men (especially priests because apparently they sacrificed themselves to god so they can just live with regret to eat them alive lol) as severely for committing crimes.. yeah no. 

the slave part is odd too why would they normalize slavery in a country so called perfect ? 

but overall i do not regret reading this book, i just think that some of his views are hypocritical.

maitha mana

A world of reason that evolves around logicality and ought to be adopted in all countries today.

lucy p

pretty good short read

interesting to read old theory told well

Gavin

Fun to talk about, not to read. There is this section, which is an early prediction of what would happen to British sharecroppers in the coming centuries:

  
Your sheep […] that commonly are so meek and so little, now, as I hear, they have become so greedy and fierce that they devour men themselves. They devastate and depopulate fields, houses and towns. For in whatever parts of the land sheep yield the finest and thus the most expensive wool, there the nobility and gentry, yes, and even some abbots though otherwise holy men, are not content with the old rents that the land yielded to their predecessors. Living in idleness and luxury without doing society any good no longer satisfies them; they have to do positive evil. For they leave no land free for the plough: they enclose every acre for pasture; they destroy houses and abolish towns, keeping only the churches – and those for sheep-barns.

Soo interesting, but I did not get the part about religion :(

Betty

Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More published in 1516 in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries.

Of a Republic's Best State and of the New Island Utopia

Irem

"Milyonlarca çocuğu, köreltici bir eğitimin pençesinde bırakıyorsunuz. Erdem çiçekleri açabilecekken bu körpe fidanlar gözlerinizin önünde kurtlanıyor; büyüyüp suç işledikleri zaman, yani içlerine çocukluktan giren kötülük tohumları acı meyvelerini verdiği zaman ölüm cezasına çarptırıyorsunuz onları. Sizin yaptığınız nedir biliyor musunuz? Asma zevkini tadabilmek için hırsızlık yaratmak."

Flavia Louise

5 stars
I tried to read this book a few weeks ago and really couldn't get into it. So I downloaded a free audiobook version off of Librivox and this book really amazed me. The detailed description and the style were what I liked especially.

In Thomas More's hugely influential Utopia, a traveller recounts his discovery of an island nation in which the inhabitants enjoy unprecedented social cohesion and justice. The book imagines a community in which laws, personal relations and professional ambition are based on reason, in contrast with the tradition-bound superstitions of Europe, which were, in More's eyes, impediments to equality and peaceful coexistence. One of the indicators of the profound cultural and political influence of More's masterpiece is today's common use of the word “Utopia” – a term he invented. This extraordinary treatise on the values of rationality and reason – here presented in a sparkling new translation by Roger Clarke and accompanied by copious notes and additional texts – questions what a philosopher can do to enact change in society, and how idealized visions can inform political practice.

Fred Rocha

Estou a acabar de ler o Utopia, de um tal the Thomas More, um livro publicado pela primeira vez em 1516. O próprio do More é apresentado a um viajante — curiosamente, português — de seu nome Dr. Rafael Contrasenso, que lhe relata o funcionamento de uma sociedade insular chamada "Utopia". O funcionamento é pragmático e eficiente, baseado sobretudo na lógica e no bem-estar, e por contraponto à nossa sociedade ocidental põe-te a pensar o que é absurdo na nossa realidade. 

É um livro com uma actualidade impressionante, claramente a sociedade não mudou assim tanto em 500+ anos.

Wootton's translation brings out the liveliness of More's work and offers an accurate and reliable version of a masterpiece of social theory. His edition is further distinguished by the inclusion of a translation of Erasmus's 'The Sileni of Alcibiades, ' a work very close in sentiment to Utopia, and one immensely influential in the sixteenth century. This attractive combination suits the edition especially well for use in Renaissance and Reformation courses as well as as for Western Civilization survey courses. Wootton's Introduction simultaneously provides a remarkably useful guide to anyone's first reading of More's mysterious work and advances an original argument on the origins and purposes of Utopia which no one interested in sixteenth-century social theory will want to miss.

Sophia De La Garza

I don't have many thoughts on this book, I think it was an interesting perspective but I mainly just read it due to it being assigned. I will say though it's not the worst book to read in an academic setting.

Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Lucía RG

Utopia is not as utopian as you might originally think

Beatriz

a revised translation, backgrounds, criticism

Hope Brockway

I read this book solely so I could say that I have read it. And because I too want to be able to quote Thomas More as easily as Danielle does in Ever After. This experiment leads me to believe that Prince Henry was right all along. This book is a bit silly and sentimental. 

Sure, More presents some interesting views. A society where everyone has the same opportunities and advantages in life as everyone else sounds wonderful, but how this was executed in this faux country does not sound wonderful. And the fact that this country relies on the power of slavery is a bit strange. I know this was written in a different age, one where views on slavery were quite different, but this addition feels weird. Since everything belongs to everyone anyway, why do you need slaves? 

The book also included an elaborate set-up where this well-traveled, outspoken sailor was introduced. The author then debated with this sailor about different views on government and how society is run. Then the feel of the book shifts to an in-depth view of how this utopia operates. 

Some of the views included were a bit strange to say the least. To me, this utopia felt very much like socialism, and that doesn't quite feel like a utopia to me. 

Apparently, before people can get married, they must see each other completely naked. The rationale is that a buyer gets to see cattle naked before buying, so why shouldn't you be able to do the same to your bride-to-be? That notion sounds a bit demeaning to me. 

This instance is just one of many strange views that I'm very thankful never came into being. 

This book did explore some interesting things. It took a somewhat critical look at the monarchy system of government that was pretty much the only system at the time. I think it's important to question aspects of society and see someone else's perspective on society's issues. So I read this. And, while it was interesting to see More's views on society, I am a bit thankful we govern and live the way we do.

Oona Walraet

Finnegan Cole

Katja Evertz

Diogo Cabanas

Thomas Morus

Dieses Werk ist Teil der Buchreihe TREDITION CLASSICS. Der Verlag tredition aus Hamburg veroffentlicht in der Buchreihe TREDITION CLASSICS Werke aus mehr als zwei Jahrtausenden. Diese waren zu einem Grossteil vergriffen oder nur noch antiquarisch erhaltlich. Mit der Buchreihe TREDITION CLASSICS verfolgt tredition das Ziel, tausende Klassiker der Weltliteratur verschiedener Sprachen wieder als gedruckte Bucher zu verlegen - und das weltweit! Die Buchreihe dient zur Bewahrung der Literatur und Forderung der Kultur. Sie tragt so dazu bei, dass viele tausend Werke nicht in Vergessenheit geraten

sharkie

Thomas More's Utopia

Reyna 

Ainsley Jeffery

Ned Summers 

Iskra

Thomas More Ütopya’da hayali bir adada kurulmuş ideal bir ülke tasviri yapar. Yönetim biçiminden sosyal yaşama kusursuz bir devlet ve toplum modeli çizer.  More, dostu Erasmus’a kurgusal modelini şöyle anlatır: “Ütopya’da, her şeyin herkese ait olduğu bu yerde, insanlar, bütün ihtiyaçlarının karşılanacağından eminler. Orada zengin de yoktur fakir de. Kimsenin hiçbir şeyi yoktur, ancak herkes zengindir. Bundan daha büyük bir zenginlik olabilir mi? Günlük ekmeğin peşinde koşmadan, oğlunun sefalet içinde yaşayacağını düşünmeden, kızının çeyizi için endişe duymadan, herkesin; kadınların, çocukların, torunların, torunlarının torunlarının ve daha sonraki kuşakların mutlu bir yaşam süreceğinden emin olarak…”

Utopia

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