Thomas More

Thomas More was the man who devised the word Utopia from the greek juːˈtoʊpiə to mean "good place". Utopia went on to be the name of his 1516AD publication which shared his vivid imagination in relation to this fantasy island that he had fabricated to such detail in his mind, to More this was the perfect world. More initially took inspiration from the work of Plato, yet he disagreed with some of Plato's Utopian ideals. In the book "The Republic" having communal property was the basis for an ideal city which More disagreed with. He believed that if a country had communal property there would be no prosperity. People would not have the incentive to work, and the lack of private property would eliminate respect for authority leading to conflict. More wrote Utopia just before the outbreak of the protestant reformation in a time when England was under great stress along with corruption, the book is a response to this time as a criticism to the world he saw around him. The Utopian ideas present in the book cover vast aspects of society some of these being; great productivity; no love for gold; no distinction in class; zero poverty; little crime and a religious tolerance. These where all problems he felt needed resolving in the community in which he lived in. The imagery present in the book was recognised to some readers and utopian socialist as a realistic blueprint for the perfect society one that should've been reflected on to the nation.