Critical Essay | Critical Essay by J. H. Hexter

Critical Essay by J. H. Hexter

SOURCE: "Utopia and Its Historical Milieu," in The Complete Works of St. Thomas More, Vol. 4, edited by Edward Surtz and J. H. Hexter, Yale University Press, 1965, pp. xxiii-cxxiv.

Hexter's essay, "Utopia and Its Historical Milieu" has been recognized since its publication as a groundbreaking contribution to More scholarship. The excerpt that follows presents Hexter's observations on Christian Humanism as the context for the Utopia; in the concluding section, "The Radicalism of Utopia," Hexter argues that More's vision transcended its time in its image of social equality.

Avineri comments on the depiction of imperialism and military engagements in More's Utopia:

The quest for empire and colonisation is thus elevated into a law of nature, and fighting against the Utopians becomes tantamount to fighting against nature itself. If one adds to this, that on the rare occasions when the Utopians fight their wars with their owncitizens, women fight along with...
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