Renaissance Humanism In Thomas Moore's Utopia

Thomas Moore was a well known Renaissance humanist during the northern European Renaissance in the start of the 15th century. This was a time of rebirth occurring in life and in the rediscovery of art, literature and learning. The inspiration for this was due to the rediscovery of Greek literature, and out of this movement, came Moore’s famous literary work “Utopia”. In this particular piece of writing, Moore’s objective was to describe an ideal society on the island of Utopia in which the welfare of the state and development of the individual benefit all.

The first of Moore’s key points in “Utopia” is that “Everyone must work for six hours, with the expectation that during their free time they will attend lectures to aid in educating their mind and spirit”. I think that this point is sheds light on an ideal work system, which to me, means shorter working hours with the faith that people will make good use the extra time they have. Moore’s second key point is that “All citizens are taught agricultural skills and a trade or profession”. I believe that even in this day and age, it is important that we are all able to teach each other a skill that one is good at so that everyone can learn, and maybe even master this skill themselves. This then ensures that people will know multiple trades that can help them in everyday life.

Moore’s this point in “Utopia” states that “There is no demonstration of excess, or ostentatious behavior”. Just like the previous two points, I support