I. Utopia
[50 minutes]
II. 305-3:10
Introduction
A. Transition from Chaucer
1.
Another frame narrative
2.
Another semifictional first person narrator
3.
Another consideration of religious, ethical, social
issues—ChaucerÕs possible Lollardy
B. More: 1478-1535
1.
[Greenblatt Introduction]
a)
His
heroic stature and misgivings about it to multiple audiences
(1)
Catholics
(2)
Communists
(a) Marx: ÒUtopian socialistsÓ
(3)
Liberals
(a) Social safety; education;
pacifism—but repressive and punitive
b)
Son
of prominent lawyer; page for Morton, archbishop of Canterbury and lord
chancellor
(1)
Interested in monastic life and theology; also Greek and
Latin literature; complex brilliance
c)
Fought
fiercely against Lutheranism and the Reformation
(1)
Refused to take oath for king against pope—cf. Becket
(2)
Beheaded in 1535—canonized in 1935
III. 3:10-3:15
Book II--written first--a medieval work—Eutopia—the good or ideal
place
A. no private property; non-market, non-individuality,
non-pride; unified controlled teleological world
1.
Raphael--name of angel who communicates God's plan to
Adam-- as pilgrim voyager and prophet—[Milton]
2.
monastic order; symmetry; rigorous discipline; power of
priesthoods
3.
Christian utopia of X in the gospels;
a)
socialist
message of the gospels and early church:
all things in common; liberation theology; monastic ideal
4.
comparisons with Chaucer—nobility and religious
devotion: Knight and Parson
B. Also a Platonic vision—based on PlatoÕs extensive map
of the ideal state which is an outgrowth and requirement of the ideal
person—ruled by intellectual and spiritual values, not material
ones—
1.
frequent references to Republic throughout Utopia
2.
A Heavenly Republic designed around Justice, Temperance,
Courage and Wisdom, the four cardinal virtues.
IV. 3:15-3:30
Book I--written later
A. Renaissance work—no place—ideal is not real
C. Òthe new worldÓ p.573 –alternate realities—ÒIn
that new world which is scarcely removed from ours by geography, so far as it
is, as by customs and mannersÉ.
D. A Humanist text--rhetoric
1.
Classical writers and the bible read differently in
renaissance than middle ages. More
attention to literary and rhetorical structure, complexities, frames, ironies,
differing responses. Less
straightforward.
2.
Imitation of RepublicÕs complexity and heuristic framework
a)
to
understand the concept of justice, but placed within actual framework of
lively, witty and and funny discussion and debate among actual Athenians.
b)
Idealistic
vs. sophistic; question not so much of the just society but what is the way for
an enlightened man to act
c)
Discussion
among Glaucus, Thrasymachus, Socrates, etc. Semifictional, joking,
sophisticated and ironic
d)
distancing
of views--the discussion represented as remembered at second or third
remove--like More's memory of Raphael's account of the dinnertime conversation
at Cardinal Mortons
3.
Game: wit;
playfulness; allusion; conscious lying and fictionalizing
a)
Written
in Latin largely for a community of scholars, more as a diversion than a
straightforward didactic effort to arrive at the truth or convert or
revolutionize society.
(1)
ending remains open question; multiple viewpoints and
attitudes; tolerance and tentativeness rather than dogmatism
(a) utramque partem
(2)
Hythloday or Nonsenso as his name indicates--is wise fool;
praise of folly; encomium Moreae; Erasmus
b)
prefatory
material; published with the work
(a) Renaissance philology; the
recovery, reproduction, editing of mss. and turning them into standard printed
texts; bookishness
(b) fascination with languages;
Renaissance discoveries of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Assyrian, Egyptian,
MesoAmerican artifacts, mss. texts
(c) phonology, morphology, semantics
(d) experimentation with ideas of
universal language; understanding of linguistics; linguists and polymaths;
codes
(e) the poem
(f) expression of tolerance
(2)
letter to Gilles 29:
(a) writers refer to themselves as fine
scholars 37.
(i) Raphael
interested in Greek and Cicero
(b) enjoyment of correspondance and
conversation
(c) sprezzatura; book improvised on
spur of moment
(d) quibbling over details of bridge
dimension; 31. complaints about critics and readers; added silliness in letter
to Busleiden after Book 2
E. Humanism and politics
1.
humanist function as diplomat, educator and counsellor
a)
More
and Peter: R's knowledge could be of great use to king and humanity; theory of
king as fountain raining benefits on the population
b)
diplomatic
trade mission; agent of Henry VIII; making treaties; negotiations
(2)
tudor dynasty
c)
educators
for princes--Aristotle and Alexander model
d)
Mirror
for magistrates; the Courtier; the Governor; Machiavelli's The Prince;
2.
The "Christian Humanist" social reformers
position: Erasmus, More, Linacre, Colet
b)
Ethical,
detached and informed opinions; corrections, moral viewpoint, long range
perspective; liberal, humane outlook contra Machiavelli
c)
it
also explores the subject of how best to counsel a prince, a popular topic at
the time.
V. 3:30-3:55
Outline and passages to discuss
pp.521-545
A. Letter to Giles,
1.
insistence on Truth [as with Chaucer—a conventional
false truth claim] 521-522—wit and trickiness; complexity
2.
time pressures explain delay—work and home
3.
fact checking on minor details; needs location because
someone wants to go there as missionary
4.
complaints about the obstacles to writing—lack of
attentive audience, hypercriticism—another whine
B. Story of meeting
1.
Praise of Tunstall; complements to King
2.
Context of diplomatic mission, negotiating with Charles V,
making More a pragmatist in a context of sharply differing perspectives and
interests—no agreement
3.
Peter Giles introduces him to an exotic stranger—a
philosopher, more interested in Greeks than Romans
4.
Travelled with Vespucci; found new worlds
5.
Sitting in garden for philosophical dialogue—Groves
of Academe
6.
This is frequent model; travel literature market;
Bacon—New Atlantis, Gulliver
C. Dialogue of Counsel
1.
Advice to Hythloday
a)
Giles
advises him to be a counselor to kings for RÕs benefit
b)
More
urges him on basis of service he could perform
2.
He rejects because
a)
No
difference between service and servitude
b)
Kings
only interest in war and enlarging dominion
c)
Counsellors
would oppose any new way of doing things because it would threaten their
entrenched interests
d)
Only
people near power are those who say what they want to hear and who flatter
3.
3:35-3:40 RaphaelÕs story: At the table of Cardinal Morton 529
a)
Debate
against Òthe lawyerÓ about the justice of hanging thieves and the number hanged
(1)
Hytholoday argues they should be given jobs; they are driven
to the necessity of stealing
(2)
Lists all the reasons for unemployment
(a) 1. Veterans wounded in unnecessary
wars
(b) 2. Noblemen have great staff of
retainers who are unemployed and unemployable when they go bankrupt
(3)
Lawyer speaks of need for aristocratic military, refuted by
H.
(4)
Third reason for thieving: sheep 531
(a) Enclosures: Industrial agriculture driving out
subsistence farmers—commodity product for export—wool—greedy
landowners 531
(b) Oligopoly fixes prices so that
individuals cant buy wool to make their own clothing [Economics—price
fixing; monopoly; unrestrained, unregulated capitalism] See Wife of Bath—and her market
values
(c) Same with meat animals—prices
being raised
(5)
Luxury and proliferation eating houses, wine houses, bawdy
and gambling houses also breed crime and poverty 532
(a) First making them thieves and then
punishing them for it
(6)
LawyerÕs pompous answer interrupted by Cardinal
b)
Argument
against capital punishment
(1)
Biblical
(2)
Lacks equity
(3)
Imprudent—punishes theft and murder alike
(4)
Option—from Persian example
(a) Restorative justice 534
(b) Thieves must work for the public
good and be supported by the public—slavery
(c) Very harsh judgments to enforce
this ÒkindÓ punishment—death to those who help them or give them money or
freedom
(d) It would not be rational for the
slave to violate the terms of their punishment and hence they donÕt 535
c)
Response
to looking for alternative arrangements
(1)
The lawyer and
others say this cant work;
(2)
Cardinal says that it would be worthwhile to experiment with
a few thieves upon whom death sentence had been pronounced.
(a) The others at the table change
their minds and think itÕs a good idea
(i) Demonstrates
herd thinking but also the possible effectiveness of a philosopher counseling a
king
(3)
Contest between the Fool and the Friar about the role of
Friars—like CT
(a) Hythloday concludes Cardinal takes
his ideas no more seriously than
he takes the ravings of a Fool and Friar
537
4.
3:40-3:50 More vs. Hythloday
a)
More
disagrees and reasserts need for philosophers to provide counsel
b)
Hythloday
counters with imagining the crafty and intricate machinations in the counsel of
the king—the lack of straightforwardness; the truth mixed with falsity;
the use of deception and the many competing strategies proposed for
(1)
1. gaining more territory and manipulating both friends and
enemies.
(2)
His advice would be to stop trying to get more land and stay
home and govern for the sake of the people.
(3)
2. raising money to fill the treasury by cheating the
populace
(4)
3. manipulating and perverting judges to get them under his
control 540
(5)
His speech would insist that king must serve the interests
of the people and curb his own appetite for wealth and power.
(6)
He would be ignored
c)
More
counters that this is academic philosophy that has no place in counsels of
kings 541
(1)
Alternate philosophy is to play the game: Òwhat you cannot
turn to good, you may at least make as little bad as possibleÓ 543
d)
Hythloday
says this wont do any good, just make things worse
(1)
A man in council must go along with all kinds of evil,
otherwise will be thought of as a spy or traitor.
e)
Argue
both sides: utramque partem
5.
3:50-3:55 The underlying issue: private property
a)
Hytholoday:
nothing will change until private property is eliminated—
(1)
this is the teaching of Christ 542 and Plato 544—
(2)
it favors the greedy and punishes the virtuous; 543-544
(3)
Perverts politics by making it governed by money
b)
More
answers 544
(1)
1.without private property people wont be motivated to work
(2)
2. inability to protect what youÕve earned legally will lead
to bloodshed and turmoil 544
(3)
3. authority cannot exist among men who are equal to one
another in every respect
(4)
Editor says these three derive from critique of PlatoÕs
Republic in AristotleÕs Politics 2.1-5
c)
Argue
both sides
6.
Hythloday says that the history and culture of the Utopians
will provide evidence to prove his
point. 545—this is the lead
in to Book 2
a)
The
fiction here presented is the only answer to MoreÕs last three objections
b)
What
about the private property argument as witnessed in history
(1)
Israel
(2)
Russia
(3)
China
(4)
Cuba
(5)
The military
(6)
Civil service and education?
c)
