Thomas More UTOPIA
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
“God said, "Thou shalt not kill" - does the theft of a little money make it quite all right for us to do so? If it's said that this commandment applies only to illegal killing, what's to prevent human beings from similarly agreeing among themselves to legalize certain types of rape, adultery, or perjury? Considering that God has forbidden us even to kill ourselves, can we really believe that purely human arrangements for the regulation of mutual slaughter are enough, without any divine authority, to exempt executioners from the sixth commandment? Isn't that like saying that this particular commandment has no more validity than human laws allow it? - in which case the principle can be extended indefinitely, until in all spheres of life human beings decide just how far God's commandments may conveniently be observed.”
Hythloday explains that executing robbers is a terrible way of controlling robbery. People steal when they're desperate, not because they're cunning master criminals. If you want people to stop stealing, you need to give them the means to take care of themselves.
"Oh, we've taken care of that," (16) the lawyer responds, explaining, you know, they can farm or something.
"Oh no, you don't," (16) Hythloday replies, and gives him the real deal:What about veterans who've been disabled? Can they farm? And it's not like noblemen do anything all day. In fact, the only reason they get to sit around is because they have a bunch of people slaving away for them... not terribly enabling.
This isn't the only reason there is widespread thievery in England, Hythloday explains. Massive private farming and land-owning is also a huge problem. There isn't any land left for ploughing! Instead, it's just owned by a handful of lazy, rich people who kick out the local farmers and do whatever they want with it. Where are all these displaced people supposed to go? How are they supposed to find money to feed themselves and their families? Especially since buying all this farming land has also lead to food and wool being more expensive.
Moreover (Hythloday is seriously on a rant here), these noblemen who buy land for their own private benefit intentionally charge lots of money for animals and livestock. And for what? So that they can indulge in absurd amounts of luxury: new outfits, tons of food and drink, silly card games. Obviously, the rich need to be regulated. They shouldn't be allowed to do whatever they want or the problem of thievery will just get worse.
Hythloday concludes (finally!) by saying that executing thieves just looks like justice, but it isn't and it doesn't work. He says it's just like blaming a child for being bad if his parents raised him poorly.
Wouldn't a mild punishment still encourage robbery?
It's just completely unfair, Hythloday insists, to take someone's life because they took someone's money. "Thou shalt not kill" is one of the Ten Commandments, so why are we doing it all the time? It seems like a can of worms; if killing becomes legal, what's next: rape, adultery? God gets to make laws, not people. The laws of Moses are severe, but fair, so let's emulate that. Hythloday goes on to say that it's actually dangerous to make death the penalty for stealing because then murder and theft are punished in the same way. If that's true, won't that encourage robbers to kill their victims since they have nothing left to lose?
In terms of an alternative punishment, Raphael thinks the Roman idea of putting thieves to work in chains isn't too bad,
Cheaters are forced into slavery and if they are caught again, they are executed.
Speaking of punishing, there aren't actually fixed punishments in Utopia. Every particular situation is considered by the senate. They find slavery a useful punishment
PHILOSOPHY AND ADMINISTRATION
More is still not convinced that all advisors to kings have to be bad and thinks Hythloday could do some serious good. Just think about what Plato recommended, More says: that the best kind of state is one ruled by philosophers.
Fun factoid: More is referring to Plato's Republic, a famous work of Greek philosophy which imagined a perfect state ruled by philosopher kings. More's Utopia is actually modeled on this text, which some people consider to be proto-Utopian.
Hythloday insists that plenty of philosophers try to influence kings all time by writing books of advice that the kings just don't read. He says he agrees with Plato's idea, but it first requires kings to become the kind of people who even care about philosophy. Even Plato tried to influence a tyrant during his lifetime and it was a complete fail.
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Hythloday thinks that anywhere private property and money are valued, it's really hard for a country to be happy or just. How can it, when all the worst people get all the best stuff? Where the few have the most and are always worried about holding on to what they have? And, of course, everyone else is totally miserable.
This is why the Utopians are so brilliant! They have a very successful government but only a few laws. Good deeds are rewarded, but they share everything and everyone has what they need.
Every other country is always struggling to keep itself ordered. Private property is a total disaster because laws don't actually protect that property—people steal it, ruin it, etc.—and so there are endless new laws produced and new lawsuits brought forward. Total nightmare.
Thinking about all this really does make him sympathetic to Plato and his anti-private property stance. He was so right when he realized that the only way to be happy is to make property equal. How can equality exist when individuals own property?
Hythloday is totally convinced that we need to get rid of private property in order for equality to exist and for people to be happy. As long as there is private property, most people will be oppressed, miserable, and poor.
GEOGRAPHY
The entrance to the bay is a bit tricky, what with super shallow water on one side and super sharp rocks on the other. That means strange ships can't really come in unless they have some help from a Utopian pilot who knows the various landmarks.
In fact, if the Utopians wanted to totally destroy an enemy fleet, all they'd have to do is rearrange those landmarks. Sneaky.
Every city isn't just a city, but also includes a nice amount of farm land, which stays intact because Utopian city-dwellers aren't greedy for more land. Instead, they sprinkle the country with a small number of well-placed country-houses (no suburban developments on this island!).
Every country-house has at least forty workers, plus two slaves (yep, you read that right—slaves) as well as a master and mistress. There's also a kind of "community leader" who is in charge of thirty households.
Power Management
The country and the city have a little exchange program going on, where twenty country-dwellers swap with twenty city-dwellers and each learn new skills. It's a good system because everyone gets exposure to different ways of living, but no one is stuck doing one thing unless they really like it.
every thirty households has a "community leader". This person is called the phylarch, or in their ancient language, the syphogrant.
These leaders are in charge of electing a prince using a secret ballot. The prince rules for his whole life, but can be removed if people think he's a tyrant.
They have all kinds of open and democratic processes by which the prince deals with day-to-day business, and everything is conducted in the open so that the prince and his advisors don't do anything sneaky or oppressive.
Oh, and of course, the senate isn't allowed to debate something the same day it's brought up, since it's always better to have time to think things over.
Division of labour
Because everyone does their share, a lot gets done in six hours. Unlike most places (in More's time), women work, too, and there aren't any non-working priests, rich people, or beggars. Not to mention that the work they do in Utopia is actually useful.
In fact, even though syphogrants don't need to work, they usually do. Scholars are also exempt from work, but if their research isn't good, they have to start working again. (We're kind of glad that policy doesn't apply to students here…)
Money and surplus
When all the leaders get together annually in the capital, they assess how many goods they have, save a lot, distribute some, and then trade whatever is left over. They've gained a lot of gold and silver, so they don't mind lending to other cities on credit.
They only really use money to hire soldiers, so that they don't have to fight in wars.
They actually keep their gold and silver for totally wacky stuff, because they don't think it's very valuable. Yep, they use it for chamber pots (primitive toilets), chains for prisoners, and gold chains that criminals are forced to wear.
Only children, before they become more mature, enjoy playing with diamonds and pearls.
Ethics and religion
They like to debate all kinds of philosophical topics, and believe happiness is the greatest goal in life. Hythloday, by the way, doesn't seem very impressed with this part.
Their religion is based on this principle, too, but teaches them that the truest kind of happiness is honorable and good pleasure, not just greedy and self-interested pleasure.
For them, virtue means following Nature as closely as possible, which means being good to yourself and to others.
This is why it's good to follow laws that help you to be virtuous and not to do anything that will harm another person.
They believe that God will ultimately reward those who act virtuously.
Good pleasure, Hythloday repeats, is following what Nature lays out for us.
For example, following bad pleasure is caring too much about (1) fancy clothes, (2) big honors, (3) jewels, (4) money for its own sake, (5) gambling, (6) hunting. These kinds of things have nothing to do with Nature and lead people to be way too into themselves.
Good pleasures are (1) functioning body and health (despite the fact that some people don't think health counts), (2) sensory experiences like music (eating and drinking should only be pleasurable if they're healthy), (3) beauty, strength, and agility.
Euthanasia
Sick people are taken very good care of and the Utopians believe in euthanasia (the killing of someone terminally ill, with their consent, to spare them from chronic pain).
Divorce
Utopia is the only country in that area where they practice monogamy (only being married to one person) and they do allow for divorce if there's any cheating going on or things are really, really miserable. However, this can't just be some natural flaw in the person or old age, because that is just not cool; you need to stick marriage out if that's the case.
Laws
There are only a few laws in Utopia to avoid any legal confusion or the need for lawyers. Everyone can be a legal expert and defend themselves when the legal system is nice and simple.
Religions of the Utopians
Utopia has a bunch of different religions and different people worship different things: sun, moon, planets, a virtuous man of the past. Most, however, believe in a great, unknowable power that was the origin of the world and they call this power Mithra.
When King Utopus first conquered Utopia, he saw what damage was being done by all this fighting about religion, so he made it a law that everyone could practice whatever they wanted. He thought it was likely that God was present in all kinds of different beliefs and that true faith would be revealed by its own qualities, so fighting is never necessary.
The only belief they really look down upon is the idea that there is no justice in the afterlife. Still, people who think this aren't punished, they just can't hold public office.