The ideas presented in this philosophical discussion raise an interesting question. Do they express opinions held by More? Critics differ in their responses to the problem. Hythloday indicates at the opening of the passage that these are views supported by some of their philosophers; but as the discussion progresses, he no longer refers to some thinkers and thus gives the impression that they are beliefs commonly held by Utopians. Clearly, Hythloday himself is in sympathy with those doctrines.
If we are to ascribe this philosophy to More, we must acknowledge that it is More the humanist, not More the strict Christian, who is speaking. The heart of this philosophy, though not necessarily anti-Christian, is predominantly Greek, hence pagan. “The chief aim of life is pleasure,” they say. That bare statement, taken alone, sounds like pure hedonism or epicureanism. A further reading in the text reveals qualifications of that blunt assertion, making the doctrine more respectable—that is, avoiding depriving others of their pleasure in trying to gratify your own, and prizing the pleasures of the mind above those of the body. A more satisfactory label for this philosophy might be “naturalism.” Tune your life to conform to the dictates of nature, which manifests God’s plan. The corollary to that injunction is to receive joyously those experiences which nature has determined to be both necessary and pleasurable, whether at table or in bed, at a concert, or reading Greek.
It is interesting to note that Montaigne, who espoused the naturalistic position almost a century later, expressed these same sentiments in almost identical phrasing in his essay “Of Experience.” Actually the views presented here were widely circulated among intellectuals during the Renaissance, whether or not they were More’s.
Another Renaissance attitude attributed to the Utopians by Hythloday was that inquiries into the secrets of nature, in matters of anatomy and medicine, for example, were permissible since they could be beneficial to mankind and also could lead to a greater appreciation of the complexities of God’s creation.
The inclusion of the long list of Greek authors whose books Hythloday gave to his hosts serves as an example of the enthusiasm of the age for classical culture. Altogether, this section of the book stamps it as a representative product of the Renaissance. Even the mention of introducing the Utopians to the craft of printing conveys something of the sense of pride in the achievements of the age. Remember that printing was a fairly recent invention, scarcely 50 years old, and that it was still in its infancy in England when Utopia was written.
