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.
