The Best for Whom?: Selfishness in Moore's Utopia Anonymous College

Utopia: a word many assume to describe a society without fault or suffering. Our definition of utopia is derived from Sir Thomas More’s written work Utopia, the originator of the utopian genre. While describing Utopia to illustrate the best society, Hythloday touches on certain aspects that reveal flaws in the Utopian society. In this essay, I contend that More’s depiction of sustainability, specifically regarding population control, is an aspect of Utopia that suggests how no civilization can genuinely be better than others and that even those who become “excellent perfection in all good fashions, humanity, and civil gentleness,” are still selfish and elitist like all people (More 50).

While Hythloday’s descriptions of Utopia’s rules and constructs for population control illustrate its methods for maintaining sustainability and promoting equality, these stories also reveal the hidden selfishness of the Utopian people. According to Hythloday, to roughly control the population of Utopia, “No family shall at once have fewer children of the age of fourteen years or thereabout than ten, or more than sixteen, for of children under this age no number can be prescribed or appointed” (62). While there are some restrictions on the...