Almost 500 years have passed since the publication of Thomas More's brilliant book Utopias, and its influence has affected and is affecting the entire world order, from the thinking of Mahatma Gandhi to the ideas of technology giants from Silicon Valley. What is the vitality of the views of the unsurpassed utopian and his followers? And why does he remain a contemporary of any era?
Thomas More: between truth and fiction
English lawyer, statesman, writer Thomas More was famous for his strange character. Was born in 1478. And his whole life was an example of the fact that a real person will always be cramped within the established framework - be it conventions, dogmas or the time in which she lives.
So, it is known that, contrary to the rules of his age and state, he raised his daughters as enlightened, not muslin young ladies. He could not adhere to the customs of his time and at the same time encourage very exotic and archaic customs and clothing of distant ancestors. He was also an enemy of the Protestant Reformation and is known today as a Catholic martyr. For this, he was beheaded by order of King Henry VIII.
Today, however, we will not talk about the biography of this figure, but about the idea of utopianism, which has managed to be exported around the world. This gave rise to a host of books, philosophical and political movements.
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What was the essence of the idea
In 1517, almost five centuries ago, the book "Utopia" was published in Latin. The word was chosen to describe a community on an island with an ideal regime. "Utopia" means "place" in Greek. Some scholars suggest that it might be a play on words with the hidden meaning of "happy place." By and large, Mora's book was an opportunity for the author to "play" with political ideas: the dream of a better life is an innate part of human existence. And Mor is not the first to address this dangerous topic. In 380 BC, Plato wrote his treatise "The State" - dialogues about an ideal republic. In controversy, Socrates describes a communist, egalitarian city-state. Instead of multiplying in a family, men and women leave the city once a year for a wild sex orgy. As a result, happy children know their real parents and are raised by the state.
Various medieval works also presented what an ideal society might look like. Christine de Pisan, who served at the royal court in France, published a book on the city of women in 1405. The book protects female dignity; it also features a symbolic city inhabited by women who loved, love and will love virtue and morality. This city is intended to be a refuge from the patriarchy. Christine de Pisan has become the herald of feminism in Europe.
Foresight
In the 17th century, a new wave of utopian literature was outlined. The authors are conventionally divided into two camps: some look back, idealizing the patriarchal way of life, others look to the future, dreaming of the time when machines will start doing work for a person.
In 1619, the work "Christianopolis" appeared - the Christian utopia of the German mystic theologian Johann Valentine Andrea, and in 1623 the Italian writer and Dominican monk Thomas Campanella published his "City of the Sun".
A few years later, in 1627, Francis Bacon, the polymath and Lord Chancellor of England, published a book called "New Atlantis", in which he proclaimed science as the Savior. Bacon argued that the state should create a scientific community that would invent machines in order to ensure the superiority of England on the world stage. Utopias are utopias, but Bacon already then foresaw the appearance of aircraft and submarines! He wrote: “We will fly in the air like birds, because now we have flying vehicles (most likely, they meant balloons). We have ships and boats, and someday they will be able to sail under water."
In the 17th century, some Utopians attempted to go beyond theory and create a living, breathing alternative society. It was a tumultuous period. Britain had the Puritan Revolution, Christmas, Christmas trees, dancing, theater and other pagan rituals and joys of life were banned.
In the midst of all this ferment in the British kingdom, the utopian socialist Gerard Winstanley tried to create an ideal colony. His followers - there were only 20 people - were called diggers (excavators). In 1649, they began to develop a common land on St. George's Hill. In his pamphlets, Winstanley preached the communist philosophy: "The earth should be a common treasury for all."
Romantic influences
Of course, at the heart of all utopian ideas was romance - a dream that might never come true. In 1668, a book appeared called "The Island of Pinos". By Henry Neville. He was the Robinson Crusoe of his day. The hero finds himself on a beautiful island full of birds, flowers and delicious fruits, where the weather is always favorable, not like in England in September. In short, heaven on earth.
A few years later, at the beginning of the 18th century, Daniel Defoe wrote his famous novel "Robinson Crusoe", followed by the book "Gulliver's Travel" by Jonathan Swift. Both works became a continuation and development of the ideas of utopianism. Gulliver's story is generally a journey around a series of utopias, both good and bad.
From dream to business
One of the most successful utopians of the 19th century was Robert Owen. A progressive Welsh entrepreneur has improved working conditions in his workplace, he also joined the Manchester Health Council to improve sanitation and introduce an 8-hour day for workers with the slogan “Eight hours of labor. Eight hours of rest. Eight hours of sleep."
Owen launched a more ambitious plan. It was the first of Owen's co-operative townships. The Victorian period was full of discussions among benefactors and intellectuals about how to alleviate the conditions of the poor. In the mid-19th century, dozens of Owen's followers began experimenting with small cooperative farms and communities that provided each family with a piece of land and farming lessons.
Most of these schemes failed - or at least did not last long. They, however, gave birth to a cooperative movement that is still relevant today. We can even trace the roots of trade unions to Owen's efforts.
New models
The era of H. G. Wells, who wrote a dozen utopian and dystopian novels, has come. They were usually technological in nature. His books formed the basis of more than one film masterpiece: "War of the Worlds", "The Invisible Man", "Time Machine" - what if not a brilliant foresight of the future? Just like the giant fruits appearing in his novels, robotic butlers …
Perhaps the most amazing personalities of utopians in modern history were the figures of world importance - Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi. It is a little known fact that an Indian nationalist corresponded with an aristocratic Russian writer. Tolstoy, an anarchist and Christian, ruled that the state was responsible for most of the bad things: taxes, wars, and general immorality. Tolstoy advised passive resistance - "non-resistance to evil by violence."
In 1909, a young Indian philosopher began to correspond with Tolstoy. He called himself "a humble follower of the count." They discussed ideas of pacifism, passive resistance, freedom from labor, and other utopian issues. In 1910, Gandhi launched a cooperative colony in South Africa, which he called Tolstoy's farm. It was Gandhi's utopian thinking, inspired by the idea of Tolstoyism.
Dark visions
XX century. New time, new ideas. The age of science fiction has begun. Edward Morgan Forster has added his genius novel "The Car Stops" to the masterpieces of the genre. In this dark fantasy, people live in underground chambers, connected to everyone else in the world through a screen … Sounds familiar? The machine is worshiped as the source of all knowledge and freedom: "The machine feeds and clothe us, gives us a home, through it we talk to each other, see each other, we exist in it."
Aldous Huxley in 1932 created a kind of satire on Wells' endless utopias. He called his work Brave New World. Huxley expresses concern about the Americanization of Europe. And there is a lot in the book that can be called "American" in this brave new and dystopian world. Readers today are amazed at how many of his predictions have come true, regarding the state, gender degradation, and outlook on life. For example, when life becomes unbearable, people take some kind of amusement drug.
What's next?
Then there was an attempt to build communism in the USSR, the hippie movement, preaching absolute freedom from society, and similar utopias. As a rule, they all turned out to be unviable. The only exception can be called the free city of the anarchist community in Copenhagen - Christiania, founded in 1971. Today 850 citizens live here. Christiania's goal is formulated as follows: “Creating a self-governing society in which each person considers himself responsible for the welfare of the entire community. Our society must be economically self-sufficient and we strive to be firm in our conviction that psychological and physical need can be overcome."
The future is still on the horizon
Today the utopian spirit is far from dead. Like the capitalist ancestors of the utopians in the 19th century, it is customary for capitalists in Silicon Valley to talk about building an ideal society. One of the strongest players in the California tech revolution of the past 20 years is Peter Thiel. He co-founded PayPal, which he predicted a great future for in 1999. He was also the first serious investor in Facebook. He invested $ 500,000 in the company and then sold his stake for $ 1 billion.
So the world of Thomas More's Utopia is not dead. But what have we learned from these centuries of ideas, hopes and plans?
It seems almost nothing. The communist ideal remains attractive, but unattainable. In the first place are not utopian things at all - modern technologies, war, power and money. And the best that we can - on Friday night, pick up one of the books of wonderful people of the past centuries, who believed and dreamed of a better fantastic future. And we will continue to believe that it will come.
Rose Narodnoe