Utopia, is by far that hardest book we have had to
read so far in class, at least in my opinion. I feel as though there are so
many underlying messages and ideas beneath the text that I have not understood
or unearthed yet. Even so, this is my favorite out of what we have read so far.
I took a couple of philosophy classes last year and this book reminded me of a
lot of our discussions on human nature and Plato, who is mentioned several
times in Book I.
One of my favorite parts to read about was closer to the
beginning when Raphael is talking about Capital punishment. He was saying how
the penalty for thieves is death but that it was too harsh a penalty for
something as menial as stealing when society may sometimes force their hand. “These
noblemen drag around with them a great train of idle servants, who have never
learned any trade by which they could earn a living. As soon as their master
dies, or they themselves fall ill, they are promptly turned outdoors…” (17) It
struck me how much of the reading I spent internally agreeing with Raphael and
thinking that his ideals on how society should work were beyond that of his
time.
