Sir Thomas More (1February 7, 478-1July 6, 535) was born in London, England. His father is a judge. Because Moore lost his mother when he was young, his strict father brought him up. /kloc-at the age of 0/3, Moore stayed at the home of Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop Morton as a juvenile bodyguard. /kloc-at the age of 0/4, he entered Oxford University to study classical literature and Greek, which was deeply influenced by ancient Greek philosophy. However, two years later, under the pressure of his father, Moore left Oxford University to study law at the University of Newfoundland, and then studied English law at Lincoln School of Law. 1496, 18-year-old Moore was admitted by Lincoln Law Society, 150 1 year, and he became an external lawyer. Since then, Moore has served as a member of parliament, deputy minister of finance, speaker of the lower house of parliament and chief justice. 1535 was executed for opposing Henry VIII to become the head of the church. He is the founder of the early utopian socialism theory in Europe, an outstanding humanist scholar and an experienced politician, and is famous for his masterpiece Utopia.

First of all, anecdotes about life

After King Henry VIII of England came to power, Moore was deeply loved and began to rise to the top. 15 18 was appointed as the president of the royal court of appeal and an adviser to the Council. 152 1 served as deputy minister of finance and was knighted. On the nomination of Justice Thomas Wolsey in 1523, Moore was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons; in 1525, he was appointed Minister of the Principality of Lancaster; in 1529, he succeeded wolsey as the British Justice, which was the first important person in Britain after the king. Moore's popularity is increasing day by day, and the king is very important to him. He informally invited him to dinner and discussed mathematics and astronomy with him, but Moore was not honored. Once people congratulated him on being loved by the king, and he replied, "If my Colonel Moore really lets him get an insignificant French city, he will definitely land." Moore knew that Henry VIII was capricious and heartless. 1530, British nobles and prelates jointly wrote to the Pope, asking him to declare the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne invalid. Moore didn't sign the letter, but he thought Catherine should be the real wife of the king. He opposed the Reformation in England. Although he also criticized the corruption of Catholicism, he advocated the internal improvement of Catholicism and the restriction of the power of the Pope by the conference of representatives of the whole church. He believes that Europe should be maintained by a unified church to reduce the disaster of war. Moore resolutely resigned as Justice 1532. Henry VIII was deeply annoyed by Moore's failure to take responsibility for himself and betray his trust. 1533, Henry VIII remarried, and Moore refused to attend the coronation ceremony. The following year, the House of Representatives passed the Supreme Act, declaring Henry VIII as the supreme leader of the Church of England, and all subjects in the country were sworn in. Moore refused to take the oath and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. After more than a year in prison, he refused to take the oath three times. In prison, Moore once said to his friend Norfolk, "I have thought about it over and over again, but I can't go against my conscience." The price of freedom is really high However, even the lowest slave can enjoy freedom as long as he is willing to pay the price. " In the end, Moore was convicted of treason, and Henry VIII changed the punishment of dismemberment from light to beheading. When Moore heard the news, he said loudly, "May God bless my relatives and friends and avoid inviting such kindness." This quip is a mockery of Henry VIII's tyranny. 1535 On July 6th, he went to the guillotine. Before his execution, he humorously said to the warden, "Please help me up. As for coming down, I will arrange it myself. " The next day, Moore's head was hung on London Bridge.

Second, philosophical sayings.

All the best things fall into the hands of the worst people, while the rest are poor.

Wherever private ownership exists, everyone measures everything by cash value, so it is difficult for a country to have justice and prosperity.

Life without spiritual creation is worthless and not worth living.

Utopians especially refuse to let go of spiritual happiness, treating it as the first and most important of all happiness.

Spiritual happiness comes from the practice of virtue and the self-awareness of noble life.

Third, the main idea

Moore believes that in the "public" economy without private ownership, people are humble and simple, and their daily work is not for personal gain, but for social welfare, but they regard economic standards as the basis of self-realization. Moore mercilessly criticized all the old feudal autocratic political systems, and believed that the political system that can benefit the people should be a system of high democracy and rule of law, and the reasonable political principles should be for the people, not for the rulers themselves. Utopian democracy is embodied in all aspects, and it is a universal democracy, and this kind of democracy shows a free man who is not oppressed by tyranny and is the real master of his own destiny. Moore adopted a very tolerant attitude towards religious beliefs. He gave a very high status to ethics that was in line with the interests of the whole society, especially the lower class people, and regarded the life with perfect ethics as "a life in line with nature", believing that the reason why people tended to this life was indicated by "rationality". The ethics or virtue of following the instructions of "rationality" is a religious belief that can benefit the whole society and nation.

References:

Get app, Fu Peirong's western philosophy class;

Liu Wenyi, On Humanism in Thomas Moore's Utopia, Frontier, 20 16.6.