Slaves, Euthanasia,
Marriage, Treaties- UTOPIA
Slaves, in Utopia, are never bought. Utopian
slaves are either people captured by the Utopians in battle, people who have
committed a horrible crime within Utopia, or people who have committed crimes
in other countries and been condemned to death, and saved from their fates by
the Utopians. The children of slaves are not born into slavery. Slaves work
constantly, and are always chained.
Sick Utopians receive tremendous care, but
there are still people who become terminally ill and suffer greatly. In such
instances, the doctors, priests, and government leaders urge the patient to
recognize that they are no longer able to fulfill the duties of life, that they
are a burden to both others and themselves, and that they should put their hope
in the afterlife and choose to let themselves die. Those who agree are let from
life during sleep, without pain. Those who do not agree are treated as kindly
and tenderly as before.
Women cannot marry until they reach the age of
18; men must be 22. No premarital sex is allowed; if anyone is caught they are
forbidden to marry for life. This policy exists because Utopians think that if
promiscuity were allowed, no one would choose to marry. Before any marriage
takes place, the bride and groom are, in the presence of a chaperone, shown to
each other naked, so that neither is surprised by what they find come wedding
day. It is a policy that seemed ridiculous to Hythloday, but he soon saw that
their was some wisdom in it, as it allowed the man and woman to know exactly
what they were committing to. Divorce is allowed only in cases of adultery or
extraordinary abuse. Adulterers are condemned to become slaves.
Utopians believe that people should make the
most of their physical attributes, but the use of cosmetics or tools of
enhancement are disdained.
No one is allowed to campaign for public
office. Public officials are not meant to be overbearing or awe-inspiring;
rather they should be seen as fathers who the people voluntarily treat with respect.
There are very few laws, all clearly written. Utopia has no lawyers. Utopian
leaders and judges are immune to bribery because money does not exist.
Utopia never signs treaties with other
countries because they believe a country's word should be good enough. They
believe the very idea of a treaty implies that countries are naturally enemies
rather than friends, and Utopians do not accept that interpretation of the
world. Also, few countries in their immediate vicinity ever actually adhere to
the treaties that they sign. Hythloday compares this lack of forthrightness
with Europeans, sarcastically claiming that of course all Europeans abide by
the treaties they sign.
Commentary
Slavery in Utopia is not a question of race,
ethnicity, or belief. It is a question of moral behavior. Only criminals can
become slaves, and the children of slaves are born free. The slavery that
exists in Utopia does not, then, contain all of the moral repugnance we
rightfully associate with slavery. The fact that slavery could be conceived of
as existing even within a fictional, ideal society is a sign that ideal
societies are products of their times, subject to the beliefs and prejudices of
the world from which they spring.
Similarly, the description of hospital care is
revealing of the state of medicine in the early sixteenth century. The idea
that a very sick person would not want to go to a hospital seems unusual to a
modern reader, but during a time when it might be said that the only thing more
dangerous then being sick was getting treated by a doctor, it is
understandable. The Utopian practice of not only allowing but even encouraging
euthanasia seems at odds with religious doctrine of the time, which believed
suicide was a sin that would send its perpetrator to hell. However, euthanasia
was a topic touched upon and supported by Erasmus, and Thomas More was
certainly aware of that fact.
The marriage practices of the Utopians are
called absurd by Hythloday and More, and seem absurd to the reader. It is not
entirely clear what should be made of these practices, as they exist in what is
supposedly an ideal society. A number of possibilities seem viable. Perhaps the
marriage rites are another indication of the fact that while Utopia is near
perfect, it is not actually an ideal society. Perhaps the marriage rites are
supposed to be taken seriously, as an actual rational proposal. Perhaps they
are simply a joke, since Thomas More was known to be fond of jokes. The text
gives very little clue. The issue of divorce is a more concrete matter, and
similar to that of euthanasia. The Catholic Church frowned on divorce even in
the case of adultery, but Erasmus believed divorce was acceptable and necessary
in certain situations. That divorce is allowed in Utopia is another indication
that Utopian society was a realization of Erasmus's Humanist beliefs and
arguments.
Visible in the rules guarding against adultery,
pre-marital sex, and those abolishing campaigning for office is the Utopian
understanding that mankind's baser instincts of lust and greed will never
disappear. Utopian laws, for this reason, are formulated so as to powerfully
discourage the vices inherent in human nature. These laws demonstrate that
Utopia is not a society full of ideal people. Rather, it is a society that is
formulated so that the inherent faults of man are contained as stringently as
humanly possible.
Bibliography
Sir
Thomas. Utopia. David Wootton, ed. Hackett Publishing Company,
Cambridge, England, 1999.
Social Plugin