Sir Thomas More

• Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
• At Oxford he set to learn Greek, The authorities & his father objected, & he was removed from the University.
• His Father was a lawyer & he decided to follow his fathers profession.
• In  1504 he became a member of Parliament. He led the opposition to Henry VII's demand for new taxes. In this he was successful, but the king was furious. He sent More's father to the Tower, however releasing him on a payment of £100.
•  When king Henry VII died in 1509, More returned to his practise of law & won the favour of Henry VIII. He was knighted in 1514. The King also appointed More to be Chancellor in his stead.
• More soon fell into disfavour with the King because the King wanted to divorce Cathrine of Aragon, in  order to marry Anne Boleyn. More opposed the divorce, he therefore resigned in 1532. The King then went on to invite More to his wedding with Anne Boleyn, but More refused the invitation.
• It was proved, however, by very dubious testimony, that More had said Parliament could not make Henry the VIII head of the Church; on this evidence More was convicted of high treason, & beheaded.
• His property was given to Princess Elizabeth, who kept it to the day of her death.
• More is almost Solely remembered on his account of his Utopia (1518).
• Utopia is an island in the southern hemisphere, where everything is done in the best possible way. It was accidentally visited by a sailor named Raphael Hythloday, who spent five years there.
• Before I continue with my notes on Mores Utopia, I would just like to say that at the moment I cant see how some of this philosophy stuff relates to Journalism. I understand that the political side of things could be related to journalism e.g Machiavelli, Sir Thomas More & Hobbes. But as for the others I cant see the relation yet. But nether the less I have to admit that I do find all of what I have read extremely interesting so far. Previous to this Module I have never done Philosophy before, but I am very happy that I have now because I find it very interesting. Which brings me to my next point, I have always heard about Utopia, but  I never new what it was exactly. So when I read chapter 4 I was intrigued by all of the rules & regulations. I will now proceed to write the rules & regulations of Utopia, as it is in the book Just because I personally find it interesting.
• There are 54 towns in Utopia, all on the same plan, except that one is the Capital. All of the streets are twenty feet broad, & all the private houses are exactly alike, with one door onto the street & one onto the garden. There are no locks on the doors, & every one may enter any house. The roofs are flat. Every tenth year people change houses-apparently to prevent any feeling of ownership. In the country, there are farms, each containing not fewer than forty persons, including two bondmen; each farm is under the rule of a Master & Mistress, who are old & wise. The chickens are not hatched by hens, but in incubators (which did not exist in More's time). All are dressed alike, except that there is a difference in dress between men & Women, & married & unmarried. The fashions never change, & no difference is made between Summer & Winter clothes. At work leather or skins are worn; a suit will last seven years. When they stop work, they throw a woolen cloak over their working clothes. All these cloaks are alike & are the natural colour of wool. Each family makes its own clothes. Everybody-men & women alike- works six hours a day, three before dinner & three after. All go to bed at eight, & sleep eight. In the early morning there are lectures, to which multitudes go, although they are not compulsory. After super an hour is dedicated to play. Six hours' work is enough, because there are no idlers & there is no useless work.
• At the head is a prince who is elected for life, but can be deposed for tyranny. Family life is patriachal; married sons live in their fathers house, & are governed by him, unless he is in his dotage. If any family grows to large, the surplus children are moved into another family. If a town grows to large, some of the inhabitants are moved into another town. if all the towns are too large, a new town is built on waste land. All killing of beasts for food is done by bondmen, lest free citizens should learn cruelty. There are hospitals for the sick, which are so excellent that people who are ill prefer them.Eating at home is permitted, but most people eat in common halls. 
• Everything that I have written above in italics, I have extracted from page 478 of chapter 4. I have put this on my blog for the people that may have not read this chapter. If you find it as interesting as I do, please read the rest of the chapter to see the rest of the rules & regulations of More's Utopia.

• My view on More's Utopia is that there is no individualism. everyone is to much the same. I understand that More probably wanted it to be that way because he probably thinks that if everyone is the same, then there is no need for argument or for the communities to be divided for any reason. But in reality the world doesn't work like that. I think that Russell's comment when he writes 'Diversity is essential to happiness, & in More's Utopia there is hardly any', I think this comment really sum's it all up. Lastly I think that how can Utopia be perfect when they feed all children under the age of five, left over scraps at dinner time.