Thomas More's Utopia is about a perfect society where all men, women, and children possess the same amount of goods, make the same wages, and live the same lives. Because of this, they are able to live their lives to the fullest. They reap all the benefits of society because there is no competion for jobs, or wealth, or lust. People have no real desires because they have everything already that they have ever known. There is a problem with this theory of society. It has also been proven that this type of society does not work well. Just ask the U.S.S.R, or China, Vietnam, or North Korea how well this system works. However, to Thomas More's defense, he did not write this story as a real life system of how our society should govern. This was simply a tale of the fluidity of a society without problems. There was however a famous philosopher who did lay out a foundation for how a society should function. His name was Plato and he was a great intellectual thinker with great asperations for successful outcome in society. He has a very different formula than Thomas More for a perfect society. For example, Plato says that "An ideal society consists of three main classes of people—producers (craftsmen, farmers, artisans, etc.), auxiliaries (warriors), and guardians (rulers); a society is just when relations between these three classes are right. Each group must perform its appropriate function, and only that function, and each must be in the right position of power in relation to the others. Rulers must rule, auxiliaries must uphold rulers' convictions, and producers must limit themselves to exercising whatever skills nature granted them (farming, blacksmithing, painting, etc.) Justice is a principle of specialization: a principle that requires that each person fulfill the societal role to which nature fitted him and not interfere in any other business."http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/republic/summary.html I believe that this is the most intriguing difference between the real life philosopher, who had a hands on intellectual approach toward society, and a simple, but great, fiction writer. It is of my belief that classes and structured classes of people who are assigned, by their own free will, to do certain jobs is of the utmost importance when attempting to create a perfect society. Society can never become perfect like in Utopia. Evidence can be found in the text when Guilles writes the letter to Busleiden regarding Utopia.
"The other day a great friend of yours, Thomas More- who is, I'm sure you will agree, one of the glories of our age- sent me the enclosed account of Utopia. At present very few people know about the island, but everyone should want to, for it's like Plato's "Republic", only better- especially as its described by such a talented author." Besides the fact the More toots his own horn really throughout the novel, he also puts down Plato's philosophies.
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