UTOPIA
243
UTOPIA
ife, the end of human conduct, because it is the end
if the entire cosmic activity of which human con-
luct is a part. But he holds pleasure and i)ain to be
he standard which discriminates right from wrong,
o that in reality he looks upon the moral value of
ictions as entirely dependent upon their utility. His
ccount of the genesis of our moral ideas, of conscience,
nd of our moral judgments is too lengthy and com-
ilicated to enter into here. Suffice it to say that in it
le sets forth the influence of association with that of
leredity as the source of our moral standards and
udgments. Our sense of moral obligation is but a
ransitory feeling, generated by the confluence of our
nherited racial experience of the results of action
rith another feeling that the remote present them-
elves to our consciousness as possessing more
'authoritativeness" than the immediate results,
["he arguments urged against Hedonism (q. v.) in
- eneral are effective against Utilitarianism. Its own
leeuliar weakness lies in its failure to find a passage rom egoism to altruism; its identification of self- nterest and benevolence as a motive of conduct; and ts claim that the ideas morally right and useful are [ientical at bottom.
Besides the works mentioned above see: Abee. Hist, of Utili- irianism (1902); Stephen. The English Ulililarians (1900); )ouaLAS, The Ethics of John Sluart Mill (1907); Martineac, "ypes of Ethical Theory (1S91); Greene, Prolegomena to Ethics 18S9); Leckt. Hist, of European Morals (1876); Mever. Insli- Uiones juris naturalis (1900); Fox, Religion and Morality (1899). J.\MES J. Fox.
Utopia (Greek oi), no or not, and riros, place), a erm used to designate a visionary or an ideally )erfect state of society. The name was first used by iir Thomas More in his work entitled "De optimo eipublicae statu deque nova insula Utopia" (Lou- 'ain, 1615), and has since been used as a generic erm for political romances. Such a romance, to i-hich More was indebted for many of his ideas, is 'lato's "Republic". In this work Plato prescribes a ommuni.stic mode of life for the guardians and auxil- iries (not for the productive classes) of the State. ^he superior qualities of the guardian and auxiliary lass were to be maintained by the practice of stir- liculture and state control of the bringing up of chil- Iren. In the "Republic", the ends sought are politi- al rather than economic. Sir Thomas More, on he other hand, does not confine his attention to the
- overning cla.ss but includes the whole social structure
n his plan. He puts most of his narrative into the iiouth of a certain Raphael Hythloday, a Portuguese raveller, who criticizes trenchantly the laws and cus- oms of European states, and paints in glowing colours he ideal institutions which he had ob.served in a five- ears' sojourn among the Utopians. Hythloday ontends that English laws are badly administered, rhe thief and the murderer alike are punished with Icath with no consequent diminution of the crime of heft. Means should be taken rather to .see that men ,re not driven to steal. The servant class, for exam- ile, should learn trades, so that they need not have ecourse to highway robbery when dismissed by their nasters. .\lso some provision should be made for gricultural labourers that they might not follow a ike profession when the arable lands were converted nto sheep runs, a crying evil in England at that time, ie contended further that most of the difficulties of i^uropean government grew out of the institution of irivate property. The objection is made that a latioB cannot be prosperous where .all property is ommon because there would be no incentive to abour, men would become .slothful, and violence and iloodshed would result. Hythloday answers this ibjection by giving an account of the institutions and ustoms of the Utopians.
In the Island of Utopia lying south of the equator here are fifty-four cities of which no two are nearer ogether than twenty-four miles. The government
is representative in form. From each city three wise
and ex-perienced men are .sent each year to the capital
to deliberate on public affairs. The rural population
live in farm-houses scattered throughout the island,
each of which contains at least forty persons besides
two slaves. For every thirty farm-houses there is a
leader called a philarch. Ten philarchs together with
their groups of families are under an officer called a
chief philarch. The prince of the island is chosen for
Ufe by the philarchs from four candidates nominated
by the people. He may be deposed if he is suspected
of tyranny. The laws are few in number and seldom
violated. Among the Utopians agriculture is a
science in which all are instructed. The children in
the schools learn its history and theory. From each
group of thirty farms twenty persons are sent annu-
ally to the neighbouring cities to make room for an
equal number who come from the city to the country.
In the course of time all have a taste of farm life. In
addition to agriculture each person is taught a trade.
Usually he selects his father's trade, but if he desires
to learn another he is allowed to do so. The Utopians
work only six hours a day but this is sufficient to
provide them with all the nece.s.saries and comforts of
life, for the reason that there are so few idlers and
that no time is spent in supplying useless or vicious
luxuries. In the cities groups of families have com-
mon dining-halls, although anyone who chooses to do
so may dine at his own hou.se. The menial service
in these dining-rooms is performed by slaves, while
the women of the various families by turns superin-
tend the preparation of the meals. When the Uto-
pians have produced a supply sufficient to last them
for two years, they use any surplus which they may
have to carry on commerce with neighbouring nations,
securing from them gold, silver, iron, and such other
things as they need. They do not use gold and silver
as money, since they have common ownership of
property, but they procure it principally in order to
hire mercenaries from among their neighbours. In
music, arithmetic, and geometry they are not sur-
passed by the Europeans, and in astronomy and me-
teorology they far outstrip them.
There are different varieties of religion, but their public worship is of such a general nature that they are able to worship together. All bcUcfs except Atheism are tolerated. Their ethics is Hedonistic and very few of them are attracted by an ascetic life. Those convicted of heinous crimes are reduced to slavery, and persons sentenced to death in other countries are also procured as slaves. Children of slaves do not retain the status of their parents. Per- sons afflicted with incurable and painful diseases are advised by the priests and magistrates to take their own lives. If they do not wish to do so, however, they are not compelled to. Those who commit suicide without the consent of the priests and magis- trates arc given dishonourable burial, and those who meet death cheerfully have their bodies cremated as a mark of honour. Women are not allowed to marry under the age of eighteen nor men under the age of twenty-two. Much care is taken to make those contracting marriage acquainted with each other bo as to avoid unhappy unions. Divorces are permitted for one cause, and only the innocent party may re- marry. The Utopian priests are of extreme holiness, but their numbers are small. They are elected by the people by secret ballot. Women are not excluded from the priesthood, though few of them — and these widows and old women — are chosen. The priesthood is held in high honour. Tlu' traveller concludes his account by attributing the happiness and concord prevailing in Utopia to the absence of private property.
It is sometimes asked whether More meant to have the proposals in the I'topia taken seriously. Undoubt- edly he did not. They were merely a means by which he could call attention to some of the abuses of
