Sir Thomas More's Conception Of Utopian Society

Sir Thomas More was born on February 7, 1478 on Milk Street in London. More was the son of Sir John More who was a successful lawyer who later became a judge. From 1490 to 1492 More served as the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Morton’s, household page. More received his education from Oxford beginning in 1492 where he became proficient in both Latin and Greek; however, he was forced by his father to withdraw to study legal matters. More was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was also a councilor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 16, 1532. More opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine
Hythloday explains how the founder of Utopia, General Utopus, conquered the isthmus on which Utopia now stands and through a great public work effort to cut away the land to make an island. Next, Hythloday moves to a discussion of Utopian society and how the nation is based on rational thought, with communal property, great productivity, no greedy love of gold, no real distinctions between social classes, no poverty, little crime or immoral behavior, religious tolerance, and little inclination to war. Utopia is a society that Hythloday believes is more elite than any of that in Europe.
Hythloday finishes his description and More explains that after so much talking, everyone was too tired to talk about the individual points of Utopian society. More concludes that many of the Utopian customs described by Hythloday, such as their methods of waging war and their belief in communal property, seem ridiculous. However, he does admit that he would like to see some aspects of Utopian society put into practice in England, though he does not believe anything like that will