Utopia

In Book 2 Raphael offers an extended description of the Utopian state, economy, and culture. Utopia was a peninsula until its founder Utopos decided to separate it from the mainland by digging a channel to cut across the narrowest part of the peninsula (50). Along with certain features of its landscape, this makes it easily defensible.

Across the island there are 54 cities. Each of these is planned to be “as nearly identical as local conditions permit,” and each is no more than one day’s walk or 24 miles (50, 52). The city of Aircastle serves as the capitol due to its central location, and each year a parliament convenes there to plan economic activities and distribute surplus goods according to need (65). Cities receive food and raw materials for industry (e.g., wool, timber) from a system of agricultural communes that can be found across the island. Each of these settlements is staffed by 40 adults and two slaves. Daily operations are overseen by an elderly couple. These settlements are overseen by District Controllers. Every two years, half of these Landworkers move from the farm back to a city, while 20 new workers move to the farm to take their place. Careful planning and strenuous avoidance of waste ensures a surplus of goods.

In describing the cities, Raphael notes that each is nearly identical. Cities cover approximately two square miles and are surrounded by walls and a moat filled with thorny plants. Houses are identical, three-story structures made of stone or brick, each with a garden. These gardens are prized by Utopians, and they hold annual contests to see whose garden is best (53). Because there is no private property or impetus for theft, Utopians homes do not lock. Every 10 years, the housing arrangements of each family are determined by the drawing of lots (53).

Unlike European monarchies of More’s day, Utopia’s government is democratically elected. For every 30 families there is a District Controller whom they elect. For every 10 District Controllers there is a Bencheater whom the former elected. The Bencheaters elect a Mayor to a lifetime appointment. Every three days (sometimes more often), the Bencheaters meet with the Mayor to discuss public affairs or local disputes (54). No action can be taken on issues of public interest until at least three days of debate have occurred on the matter. Political speech is strictly regulated and can only occur in the context of official meetings to prevent secret plots against the state.

Because the Utopian economy is based on need rather than profit, the division of labor is quite different than that found in capitalist societies. All Utopians take part in agriculture. Additionally, each adult has a specialized trade, such as weaving or masonry. Men typically take on more physically strenuous work, while women do lighter labor (55). In most cases, children adopt the trade of their parents. If they wish to do otherwise, they may be adopted by another family who can instruct them in the trade for which they feel they are better suited (56). Many trades found in capitalist societies have been eliminated, as there is no need for these in a communist state.

Everyone who is capable of work has a trade, and it is the chief job of the District Controllers to ensure everyone continues working at their job. Because everyone in Utopia is employed, including women, the work day is only six hours long and is much more productive on the whole. A very small portion of Utopians are singled out as intellectually gifted (58). Governmental officials, diplomats, and priests are typically selected from this group.

The basic social unit of Utopian society is the family household, Raphael explains. Each household is governed by the oldest male relative and consists of between 10 and 16 adults and an indeterminate number of children (60). If cities become overpopulated, families are relocated to cities with declining populations or to found colonies on the mainland.

The male leader of each household is responsible for determining what goods and supplies are needed for the household at any given time. When goods are needed, the male household leader goes to the marketplace in the city center and procures the relevant supplies. No form of payment is necessary, and there is no need to horde since there is no real threat of shortages. More writes, “No living creature is naturally greedy except from fear of want” (61). Since there is no threat of running out of goods, there is no motivation for greedy behaviors.

For every 30 households in each city there is a large, communal dining hall. Here meals are catered by respective households on a rotating basis. Women are responsible for food preparation, assisted by slaves. Older people and youths are seated next to one another to encourage mutual respect and admiration. The high table is reserved for the District Controller and his wife, and other figures of respect and admiration, such as Priests.

While Utopians enjoy freedom of movement within their home cities, travel between cities is strictly limited. To visit friends in other cities, one must request permission from the District Controller. If the traveler stays more than one night away from home, they must undertake their usual trade while staying there (64). If a person is caught traveling without permission twice, the punishment is slavery.

As Raphael describes it, Utopia’s centrally planned economy is based on need and use, not exchange value and profit. Because of this, and the full employment of the citizenry, large surpluses of goods are often produced. These are sometimes sold to foreign nations, either for credit or money, or in trade for essential goods. While the Utopians have no need for money within their own nation, these funds can be used to bribe foreign powers during wartime or to diffuse other conflicts (66). Having eliminated private property and money, Utopians have no use for precious metals expect in the cases just mentioned. As a culture, they reinforce the uselessness of precious metals by using gold and silver to make chamber pots and fetters for their slaves. Similarly, jewels are used exclusively as children’s trinkets. To value jewels too highly is thus seen as quite juvenile among Utopians. Raphael recounts an anecdote in which a group of foreign diplomats attempted to dazzle the Utopians with their gold and bejeweled finery. The Utopians saw this as an embarrassing act of self-degradation (68-69). Raphael notes that this is a considerable improvement from the attitudes toward gold and silver in other nations, where an individual can be immensely powerful not by merit but by virtue of how much of these metals he possesses (69-70).

All children in Utopia receive a primary education and training in agricultural techniques. Only a select few become full-time students. The Utopians had no knowledge of European philosophy but were eager to learn of it from Raphael and his companions when they visited the island. Their scientific knowledge is on par with the ancients, Raphael says, and they are skilled in matters of meteorology, tides, and astrology. In terms of moral philosophy, they are typically hedonists, believing that pleasure is good in itself, though they see certain forms of pleasure as more desirable than others. They reject all asceticism, Raphael claims: “Why shouldn’t charity begin at home? After all, you’ve a duty to yourself as well as to your neighbor” (73). Since happiness is the natural goal of human life, Utopian philosophers claim, we should not pursue our own happiness at the expense of others. Crucially, it is widely recognized by Utopian thinkers that certain activities can appear pleasurable and conducive to happiness but are not. Among these are wealth, honor, titles, gambling, and acts of cruelty. These arise as “bad habits” or the effects of “ill health” (75-76). Real pleasures are naturally pleasurable and lead to happiness. These include physical pleasures as well as mental pleasures. Because of these attitudes, the Utopians are a remarkably health and prosperous people, according to Raphael (81).

Raphael next offers rapid-fire recollections of several other social institutions, namely slavery, medicine, and marriage. While Utopia retains the institution of slavery, Raphael claims that in many respects the institution is quite humanely practiced. It allows criminals to avoid the death penalty, and many foreign peasants voluntarily become Utopian slaves rather than suffer abject poverty in their home country (82-83). The sick are assiduously cared for in Utopia, though in some extreme cases euthanasia is recommended or encouraged (though this is strictly voluntary). This is seen as perfectly humane, in no small part because of the deeply held Utopian faith in an afterlife. Marriageable age in Utopia is 18 for women and 22 for men. Premarital sex is strictly forbidden to make the institution of marriage and family life attractive to young people. If a person is caught engaging in premarital sex, they are forbidden from ever being married (83). Before agreeing to marriage, each party is allowed to inspect the other’s naked body in the presence of a chaperone (84). This helps ensure sexual satisfaction that will lessen the possibility of adultery. Divorce is uncommon and only occurs in cases where husband and wife have both found a better match and agree to divorce or where adultery has occurred. In the former case, a Bencheater’s permission is required. In the latter, an investigation by the Bencheater and his wife must confirm adultery. Adultery is a serious crime in Utopia. The first offense merits slavery, the second offense merits death. The offended party may remarry or, if they wish to remain married to their cheating partner, they may become a slave along with them (85).

After discussing the penalties for adultery, Raphael turns to the legal and penal systems more generally. Aside from adultery, penalties for specific crimes are not strictly fixed in Utopia. Major crimes are punishable by slavery. Minor infractions are dealt with on a case-by-case basis by government officials. Within each household, punishments are handed down through a hierarchy of age and gender: husbands have authority over their wives, parents over their children. Any slaves who disobey or resist are killed (85). Attempted crimes are dealt with as severely as successful ones (86). In addition to these deterrents, there are incentives to good behavior, Raphael notes. Among these are public honors. This encourages youths to aspire to great things, including holding public office. However, anyone who seeks public office deliberately “is permanently disqualified from holding one” (86). Because most incentives to crime have been eliminated, there is no need for a complex system of laws. Hence, the Utopian legal code is very short and easily comprehensible to anyone. This is desirable in the Utopian view, since “it’s quite unjust for anyone to be bound by a legal code which is too long for an ordinary person to read right through, or too difficult for him to understand” (87). There are thus no legal experts in Utopia, as no special expertise is needed to interpret the law.

In addition to limited trade with other nations, the Utopians have to navigate the demands of foreign affairs, alliances, and warfare more broadly. They abhor treaties, as they believe that these assume a state of enmity between peoples, when in truth all human beings are allies by virtue of their shared humanity (90). Rather than treaties, Utopia has several classifications for its relationships with other nations. “Allies” are nations to which Utopia has “loaned” its own citizens as administrators. “Friendly powers” are nations with which Utopia has merely traded or helped in other ways. War is seen as subhuman by Utopians, and they avoid it in whatever ways they can. Still, Utopian citizens are well trained as soldiers and are provisioned with light, durable armor and practical weapons. Legitimate causes of war, in the Utopian view, are self-defense, the protection of friendly powers and allies from military aggression, theft, as well as legal forms of fraud or unjustly applied policies. For the most part Utopians attempt to avoid war, especially through the use of propaganda (92-93). If they must fight, they prefer to use mercenaries to minimize the risks to their own citizens (94). They are merciful toward noncombatants and do not destroy crops or homes. In victory they demand payment from the vanquished through money or land to make up for the supplies expended in the conflict.

The final aspect of Utopian life that Raphael describes is their religion. Within certain limits, religious toleration is a foundational value of Utopian life. After conquering the peninsula that would become Utopia, Utopos realized that religious conflict among his enemies was a contributing factor to his victory. Furthermore, according to Utopos, it was possible that God preferred to be worshipped in many ways. If there was a single true or best religion, surely this would become clearer with time and careful consideration. For these practical and philosophical reasons, Utopos insisted that Utopians be allowed to worship in whatever way they saw fit, and that conversion can only be attempted through rational persuasion (100). However, denials of immortality, divine providence, or an afterlife is seen as an affront to human dignity and as illegitimate religious positions. A Utopian is free to believe these things, but they may not discuss these positions in public; they are encouraged to discuss them privately with priests, so they might be convinced of the error of their ways (101).

There are various religious sects in Utopia, and these often differ from city to city, region to region (98). Some Utopians worship celestial bodies, others ancestors or ancient heroes. Most take part in a monotheistic religion that worships a God called the Parent or Mythras. Different sects have varying views on what or who Mythras is, though they typically identify Mythras with nature or a power within nature. According to Raphael, this monotheistic faith is the most reasonable of Utopian religions and is gradually becoming dominant. Because of a universal belief in the afterlife, Utopians do not mourn death but celebrate the life of the departed and rejoice for their happy fate. The exception to this is when the dying person is unwilling to die, for they believe this portends a consciousness of guilt and a fear of punishment. After death, Utopians believe that the spirits of the dead remain near to the living as benevolent guardian spirits.

Due to their belief in the afterlife, Raphael explains, Utopian religion has a deep impact on the Utopian way of life. Some Utopians pursue science as an act of service to God, honoring him by attempting to better understand his creation. Others live lives of service to others, considering good works to be a path to a desirable afterlife (103). Among these latter groups, there are some more ascetic individuals who reject carnal pleasures like sex and consumption of flesh. Others are more moderate and believe that such physical pleasures are acceptable if they do not interfere with one’s good works.

The cult of Mythras also has a priesthood. Like the political leaders of Utopia, these are elected. They are chosen on the basis of their remarkable piety. Both men and women can be priests. Male priests may marry, but women may become priests only if they are elderly widows. Priests cannot be convicted of crimes in Utopia, as matters of this sort are left to their conscience and God. Utopian priests also enjoy an excellent reputation abroad because of their charitable actions during wartime, often rushing onto battlefields to prevent unnecessary bloodshed.

Churches are very large and typically dark to encourage contemplation. There are nonvisual representations of Mythras. No public rites are undertaken which would offend the other Utopian faiths (107). The regular observations of the church are Beginning Feasts and Ending Feasts. These occur on the first and last days of each month, respectively, such that they form two parts of what is effectively a monthly two-day festival (106). The Ending Feast involves a daylong fast and prayer of thanksgiving to Mythras. The Beginning Feast begins the next morning. Each family puts on white garments and processes to the church, where they are seated according to their gender and age. There are no animal sacrifices, though there are votive offerings of incense and candles. Sacred music is performed. The priest, wearing brightly colored vestments, then offers a closing prayer that affirms God as the source of creation, thanks him for his blessings, and entreats him that if there is a more pleasing religion or a better form of society, he might reveal this to the Utopians so that they may adopt them (109).

Raphael concludes with some philosophical observations about Utopia. In most nations people speak about the common good while in reality only expressing something about their own interests and the pursuit of private property (109). Utopia is different, since everything is under public control. Because of this, Utopians have no fear of going without. They own nothing, but they are all rich. They experience the greatest possible freedom, as they are free from want and anxiety (110).

Next, Raphael speculates that a prideful desire to assert superiority over other human beings is the driving force behind private property. Utopia is the best society because it limits the possibilities for expressing this vice, thus eliminating the social ills that stem from it. In the final passages More reflects on Raphael’s account, claiming that he still feels communism is a ridiculous, impracticable, and ultimately undesirable form of society. At the same time, he admits that there are some elements of Utopian life he would like to see instituted in Europe, though he does not specify what these are.