- 06 Dec, 2025 *
Conclusion
Quote
Human, mortal, worldly life is an artificial stage play, in which our property and possessions are loaned to us, somewhat at random. Any status gained from these material items is likewise fleeting. Pride built upon ownership and hierarchy is not only foolish but dangerous. Pride, for More, is the mother of all sins, and its competitive, individualistic character means it cuts through the sense of community that should hold human society together. - From the editor’s introduction
Notes
🔥 This English translation of Utopia is a work both by Thomas More and Ralph Robinson at the same time. Both had their own motivations for writing/translating this book.
🔥 More went to Oxford University, but also was influenced by the growing…
- 06 Dec, 2025 *
Conclusion
Quote
Human, mortal, worldly life is an artificial stage play, in which our property and possessions are loaned to us, somewhat at random. Any status gained from these material items is likewise fleeting. Pride built upon ownership and hierarchy is not only foolish but dangerous. Pride, for More, is the mother of all sins, and its competitive, individualistic character means it cuts through the sense of community that should hold human society together. - From the editor’s introduction
Notes
🔥 This English translation of Utopia is a work both by Thomas More and Ralph Robinson at the same time. Both had their own motivations for writing/translating this book.
🔥 More went to Oxford University, but also was influenced by the growing movement of Humanism, which pushed against the elitist approach to Latin studies by the scholars at Oxford.
🔥 He went on to study the Greek authors and translated the Greek satirist, Lucien, "who combined delight with instruction."
🔥 More is ‘Morus’ in Latin, which means ‘fool’. Raphael is named after the archangel, who was known as the bringer of glad tidings. Though ‘Hythloday’ can mean ‘nonsense’ or ‘idle talk.’ Put together, his name means something like ‘bringer of nonsense’.
🔥 Private property, and the social hierarchies that result, are fictions, according to More. This is one of the underlying points he is making with Utopia. Everything we receive in this life is temporary and then is returned when we die. In fact, the illustration of the map of Utopia in the original book resembles the shape of a skull.
🔥 More was part of Erasmus’s circle of humanists where intellectual goods were freely shared. Erasmus’s phrase was that "between friends all things are common." Erasmus was central to the publishing and spreading of Utopia.
🔥 Ralph Robinson, the English translator, was Protestant. More was Catholic. Robinson’s introduction makes note of this, but he’s also able to move past it to appreciate and want to further develop More’s work.
🔥 The English translation made it more accessible to the less highly educated, more middle class, people.
🔥 Robinson worked together the genres of travel writing with social reform writing, which helped increase the book’s popularity and its lifespan.
🔥 His translation of Utopia was later picked up by Marx and Engels and had a big impact on their work.