圣人与政治家
Thomas More（1478-1535）
Renaissance man的完美example：
- Lawyer、politician（Lord Chancellor of England）
- Humanist scholar（friend of Erasmus）
- Author（《Utopia》）
- Devoted Christian
- Martyr（为faith被beheaded）
他的life=tension between：
This world和next——
Political duty和religious conscience——
Reason和faith——
Humanist optimism和Christian otherworldliness
最终：
Conscience over king——
Head lost，soul saved
生平：从success到scaffold
早年与教育
出生于London——
Father=successful lawyer、judge
13岁：serve in Archbishop Morton家中（page）
Oxford大学：
Study classics、rhetoric
Then London legal training（Lincoln’s Inn）
人文主义者
与Erasmus亲密友谊（1499相遇）——
共同的humanist理想
学习Greek together
Erasmus’s《Praise of Folly》：
Dedicated to More——
Title pun：“Moriae Encomium”=“Praise of More”（玩拉丁语mora≈More）
More translate Lucian（Greek satirist）——
与Erasmus合作
Master of classical languages、literature
公职生涯
成功lawyer
进入Parliament（1504）
King Henry VII时：
Already显示independent spirit——
Oppose king’s过度税收
Henry VIII时（从1509）：
逐渐rise：
- Diplomat
- Privy Councillor
- Speaker of House of Commons
- Lord Chancellor（1529-1532）——**
最高政治office！
首个layman（非clergy）任此职
Trusted by Henry VIII——
能干、honest、loyal
Fall from grace
问题：Henry VIII的"Great Matter"
Henry想annul marriage与Catherine of Aragon——
Marry Anne Boleyn
教宗refuse
Henry决定break with Rome——
Declare himself Supreme Head of Church of England
More无法接受这——
1532：Resign as Lord Chancellor
Retire from public life——
希望avoid confrontation
但Henry not let him escape：
1534：Act of Succession——
Require oath承认：
- Anne Boleyn的children=legitimate heirs
- King=Supreme Head of Church
More refuse oath
Arrested、imprisoned in Tower of London（15个月）
1535年7月：
Trial for treason
Convicted（largely on perjured testimony）
Beheaded
Last words allegedly：
“I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”
Head displayed on London Bridge
1935：Canonized by Catholic Church（400年后）
《乌托邦》（1516）
More的masterpiece
Written in Latin——
For humanist audience across Europe
Published during his successful political career——
Not yet the tragic end
结构
Book 1：
Dialogue between More（character）和Raphael Hythloday（fictional traveler）
在Antwerp
Hythloday describe他的travels——
Including island of Utopia
More encourage Hythloday进入royal service——
Hythloday explain为什么不愿serve princes
Critique of European society（especially England）：
- Greedy nobles
- Enclosure movement（驱逐农民for sheep farming）
- Harsh punishment（hanging for theft）
- War、corruption、inequality
Book 2：
Hythloday详细describe Utopia
它的laws、customs、institutions
Utopia的Society
Island nation，54 cities——
All identical layout、laws
Key features：
1. 共产主义
No private property
一切公有
每家从public storehouse取需要的
No money within Utopia（only for外贸）
Gold、silver=despised——
Made into chamber pots、chains for slaves
这show values inverted from European
2. Equality
No class distinctions（除了学者）
简单、相同衣服
每个人学trade
Work 6 hours/day（足够）
Leisure for study、recreation
3. Rational planning
城市规划、population control
如果city太crowded→移民到new colony
农业rotational system
一切organized efficiently
4. Education
全民教育（including women！）
Lectures、reading
Learning=honored
某些人exempt from manual labor——
To devote to scholarship
这些成为officials、priests
5. Religion
Religious toleration！
各种faiths coexist
但要求：
- Belief in God
- Belief in afterlife（for moral motivation）
- Belief in divine providence
Atheists不tolerated（因为undermine morality）
但Christians、Jews、Muslims、polytheists可以和平共存
一个教会for all
6. No war for conquest
War only defensive或for just causes
Prefer avoid war——
Use diplomacy、bribery、assassination of enemy leaders
If war necessary——
Hire mercenaries（protect own citizens）
7. Marriage、family
Monogamy
Divorce允许（for adultery、incompatibility）
Couples see each other naked before marriage——
To avoid surprises！
（Shocking for time）
Extended families eat together in communal halls
8. Justice
Few laws（simple、clear）
No lawyers！
（More本人是lawyer——讽刺）
Punishment focuses on restitution、rehabilitation——
Not just retribution
Slavery for serious crimes——
But可以through good behavior earn freedom
Ambiguities
问题：More seriously propose this？
Or satire？
Book充满irony、ambiguity：
“Utopia”=Greek for"nowhere"（ou-topos）
Or"good place"（eu-topos）——
Pun
“Hythloday”=Greek for"nonsense peddler"
“Narrator” More在dialogue中express doubts about某些Utopian practices
某些features attractive：
- Equality
- Education
- Religious toleration
- Rational organization
某些disturbing：
- No privacy
- Rigid uniformity
- Thought control（某种程度）
- Slavery
Scholars debate：
Blueprint？
Satire of European society？
Thought experiment？
Mixture？
我的理解
Probably not literal blueprint——
但also not pure satire
Instead：
Mirror to hold up to European society——
Show by contrast它的failures
Greed vs共享
War vs peace
Complexity vs simplicity
Oppression vs equality
某些Utopian features=More’s genuine ideals
某些=deliberately excessive to provoke thought
典型humanist method：
通过imaginary dialogue、travel tale——
Explore ideas indirectly
允许plausible deniability
（Important when criticizing powerful）
More的Political Philosophy
从《Utopia》和other writings：
1. Common good over private interest
Political community=for all citizens welfare——
不是just ruler或elite
This is classical republicanism（Cicero、etc.）
2. Property问题
《Utopia》=communism
但unclear More本人support这in reality
Possibly：
Root of社会evil=private property？
但abolition=too radical、impractical？
Tension unresolved
3. Counsel to princes
Good advisors应该serve rulers——
But如何when ruler wrong？
Book 1 dialogue：
Hythloday：不要serve——
因为princes不听wisdom
More（character）：应该try——
用"indirect"方式influence
这reflect More自己的struggle作为Henry VIII’s advisor
4. Justice vs Cruelty
强烈反对harsh punishments
Hanging thieves=unjust、ineffective
Better address causes of crime（poverty）
Rehabilitation over retribution
Progressive for time！
More’s Christianity
虽然humanist——
More deeply devout
Ascetic practices
Wore hair shirt（粗糙内衣for penance）
Regular fasting、prayer
考虑过become monk（年轻时）
Decided family life更appropriate for him
Writings
Religious treatises——
Defense of Catholic doctrine
Against Protestant reformers
Controversial works attacking：
- Luther
- Tyndale（English Bible translator）
- Other heretics
他的religious writings=less tolerant than《Utopia》！
Defend Church authority、tradition、sacraments
Support burning of heretics（at least in writing）
这与Utopian religious toleration contradicts
How reconcile？
Possibly：
Utopia=pre-Christian society（received natural reason）
Once Christian revelation received——
Different standard applies
Or：
More’s views hardened over time（《Utopia》=1516；polemics later）
Or：
Tension in More never fully resolved
Conscience
Ultimately：
Conscience=supreme for More
不能violate even for king
This cost his life
但save（他认为）his soul
More vs Machiavelli
近乎同时代（Machiavelli稍早）——
但radically different：
| Machiavelli | More |
|---|---|
| Politics separate from ethics | Politics governed by morality |
| Effectual truth | Ideal truth |
| Power as goal | Common good as goal |
| Realism、cynicism | Idealism（虽然aware of reality） |
| Secular | Religious |
| Flexibility、adaptability | Principle、conscience |
Machiavelli会看More as naive idealist
More会看Machiavelli as dangerous amoralist
但both：
Deeply engaged in practical politics
Ended badly（exile vs execution）
More vs Erasmus
Closest friends——
但different paths：
Similarities
Both humanists
Both criticize Church corruption
Both hope for reform
Both satirists（Erasmus’s《Praise of Folly》、More’s《Utopia》）
Differences
Erasmus：
- Stay with reform movement（though not join Luther）
- Remain in scholarly world
- Avoid taking sides publicly（as much as possible）
- Survive
More：
- Defend Catholic orthodoxy vehemently
- Engage in politics deeply
- Take firm stand even to death
- Martyred
Erasmus later criticized More’s choice——
认为unnecessary
Could have taken oath with mental reservations
More：conscience不允许这样
Two types of humanists：
Irenic scholar（Erasmus）
Committed activist（More）
遗产
《Utopia》的影响
Launch entire genre：“utopian literature”
后续：
- Bacon’s New Atlantis
- Campanella’s City of the Sun
- Modern utopias（社会主义、共产主义visions）
- Dystopias（1984, Brave New World作为reactions）
“Utopia"成为词汇for ideal society
Political thought
Social critique tradition
Imagining alternatives to status quo
某些ideas（education、welfare、rational planning）influence later reforms
Martyrdom
Symbol of conscience vs authority
Individual vs state
For Catholics：saint
For broader culture：moral exemplar
Inspiration for later resisters（e.g. anti-Nazi German Catholics）
批评
1. Totalitarian tendencies？
Utopia的uniformity、lack of freedom——
Anticipate modern totalitarianism？
20世纪读者警惕"perfect societies”
2. Intolerance
More’s later writings support persecution
How square with humanist ideals？
Hypocrisy？
Or principled distinction between revealed truth和human speculation？
3. Impractical idealism
Utopia=impossible
Human nature不允许这样society
More himself recognize这？
（Why remain fiction）
4. Privilege
Easy to be principled when wealthy、educated
多数人can’t afford martyrdom
现代意义
1. 社会批判
More的method：
Imagine alternative→critique present
仍powerful tool
What would truly just society look like？
Where does our society fall short？
2. Utopian thinking
Need for visions、ideals——
Even if impossible——
To inspire改进
But also：
Warning about utopias=dystopias
Perfect can be enemy of good
3. Conscience
More的stand：
某些things non-negotiable
Even when cost is high
今天：
When should we compromise？
When stand firm？
No easy answers
4. Integration of life
More tried integrate：
Public service、scholarship、faith、family
Ultimately这tensions tore apart
但attempt admirable
How我们balance competing commitments？
实践
1. Imagine alternatives
不只是accept现状
What could be different？
Better？
Utopian thinking（not dogmatic）=creative
2. Critique constructively
More批评European society——
But offered vision（however flawed）
Critique + imagination
3. Conscience
Know your non-negotiables
What would you not do——
Even under pressure？
Think before crisis
4. Friendship
More和Erasmus：
友谊transcend disagreements
Maintain relationships——
Even when paths diverge
Thomas More——
In Tower of London——
等待execution
写给女儿Margaret：
Calm、loving、faithful
No regrets
他choose soul over life——
Conscience over king——
Eternity over time
他的《Utopia》：
Nowhere——
Yet everywhere
在我们的hopes——
For better world
他的death：
Testament——
某些things——
Worth dying for
Maybe we不同意——
他的specific beliefs
But his integrity——
His courage——
His refusal——
Violate conscience
This speaks——
Across centuries
Utopia=nowhere
但ideal of——
Living with integrity——
This=somewhere
In every heart——
That seeks——
What’s right
Not just——
What’s expedient