Abstract | Sir Thomas More rođen je u Londonu 6. veljače 1477. ili 1478. godine kao sin obitelji koja se uzdigla u građanski pravni stalež. Pohađao je latinsku školu, gotovo dvije godine služio je kao paž kod tadašnjeg lorda-kancelara, nadbiskupa Mortona, te je na Sveučilištu u Oxfordu studirao trivium. Tamo se tijesno povezao sa engleskim humanistima Grocynom, Linacreom i Coletom, te je po ugledu na njih učio grčki jezik i napisao niz djela u humanističkom stilu. Po očevoj želji obrazuje se za pravnika, te postaje uspješnim odvjetnikom. Kao školovan pravnik i ugledan građanin ulazi u javne službe, a 1510. god. postaje londonskim podšerifom. Nakon dužeg kolebanja, stupa u službu kralja Henryja VIII. gdje prije svega ima ulogu njegovog osobnog savjetnika. Najveću prekretnicu u njegovoj karijeri predstavlja 1529. godina kada ga Kralj proglašava engleskim lord-kancelarom čime More dolazi na čelo kraljevih savjetnika.
Osim što su bili vrlo bliski prijatelji, Thomas More i Erazmo Roterdamski, su bili i glavni predstavnici sjevernjačke renesanse i zastupnici kršćanskog humanizma, jednog od četiri osnovne orijentacije u političkoj misli renesanse. Obojica se zalažu za reformu Crkve koja se treba provesti, ne nasiljem i progonima, već praktičnim humanim pristupom koji se temelji na pobožnosti i racionalizmu.
Kao za sve humaniste, reformacija je i za Morea predstavljala epohalan rez u njegovom životu. More 1532. godine pod izgovorom lošeg zdravlja podnosi ostavku na mjesto kancelara jer u sukobu Henryja VIII. s papom o rastavi njegovog braka i u počecima odvajanja engleske Crkve od Rima nije stajao na strani Kralja. Kada nije položio prisegu kojom Henryja VIII. priznaje za vrhovnog poglavara Crkve u Engleskoj, biva utamničen u londonskom Toweru. Na osnovi jedne lažne optužbe, More je u postupku zbog veleizdaje osuđen na smrt i zajedno s biskupom Johnom Fisherom pogubljen 6. srpnja 1535. god. More umire za katoličku vjeru, za svetu apostolsku i rimsku Crkvu i daje svoj život za Petrov primat zbog čega ga papa Leon XIII. 1886. god. proglašava blaženim, dok 1935. god. biva kanoniziran.
Thomas More je živio u razdoblju humanizma i renesanse u kojem se svjesno ruše tradicionalne srednjovjekovne formulacije i dotrajali dogmatizmi, te se stvaraju temelji jednog novog odnosa čovjeka prema prirodi i životu. Osnovicu te duhovno-kulturne revolucije sačinjava društveno-ekonomski život. U Moreovo vrijeme feudalni staleški gospodarski sistem zamire, a stvaraju se novi gradsko-kapitalistički gospodarski odnosi. U Engleskoj se kapitalistički način proizvodnje ranije razvija u poljoprivredi nego u industriji, a razlog tome je kvaliteta engleske vune koja postaje najtraženijom sirovinom za manufakture vune. Trgovina vunom oborila je društveni položaj i običajni radni odnos u korist pokretljivosti radne snage koja se plaćala gotovim novcem, te je novooslobođenim kmetovima donijela brojne opasnosti, a kapitalističkim zakupcima i vlasnicima zemlje mogućnost da se brzo obogate na štetu drugih. Zbog toga u Engleskoj osobito u XVI. st. dolazi do procesa „ograđivanja“ zemljišta.
Kao glavne posljedice „ograđivanja“ ističu se depopulacija, uništenje zajedničkih pašnjaka, osiromašenje seljaka, te migracije sirotinje iz sela u grad. S jedne strane, u zemlji se sve više povećavao broj siromaha, beskućnika, lopova i prosjaka, dok se s druge strane stvara monopol bogatih koji žive u sve većoj raskoši i luksuzu. Nepovoljne posljedice kapitalističkog načina proizvodnje kao i čitava ekonomska situacija potaknule su Morea da razmišlja i potraži sredstva kojima bi se takvo loše stanje moglo popraviti. More u svom kapitalnom djelu Utopiji iznosi jedan novi, viši način proizvodnje, a to je socijalistički, planski i racionalni način proizvodnje, raspodjele i potrošnje koji predstavlja svojevrsnu reakciju na vladajući kapitalizam.
Moreova Utopija je dakle, nastala pod utjecajem humanističkih i reformatorskih strujanja na britanskom otočju, te predstavlja uzor utopijskoj literaturi. Čim se pojavilo, Moreovo djelo naišlo je na ogromno zanimanje čitateljske publike jer svojim političko- literarnim karakterom donosi nešto što nije stvarno - nešto što razara zbilju i time potiče čitatelje na nov način razmišljanja i razumijevanja svijeta. More piše Utopiju početkom 1516. god. u obliku slobodno povezanih razgovora, dijelom u Flandriji, a dijelom u Londonu. Utopija je dakle, strukturirana kao dijalog, a sastoji se od dvije knjige.
U prvoj knjizi More oštro kritizira ključne socijalne probleme engleskog društva kao što su smrtna kazna, politika „ograđivanja“ seoskog zemljišta, te napada vladajuće feudalne slojeve koji teže bogatstvu i luksuzu bez rada. On također raspravlja o problematici da li filozof treba biti savjetnikom vladara u političkim pitanjima. U drugoj knjizi More opisuje političko i društveno uređenje Utopije kojom vlada pravedno društvo u kojem nema ni siromaštva ni nejednakosti, već društvom vladaju sreća, blagostanje i pravda. Osnovna misao Utopije je funkcioniranje planiranog društva u kojem nema privatnog vlasništva: imovina je zajednička. Budući da dobra pripadaju zajednici, a društvo je organizirano po obiteljima, socijalna struktura je egalitaristička.
Osnovna dilema koja se nameće po pitanju interpretacije djela jest: da li Utopiju trebamo tumačiti kao satirični, literarni i alegorički uradak, ili je pak trebamo shvatiti kao djelo ozbiljne političke misli? Pobornici konzervativne interpretacije djela, Utopiju smatraju krutom satirom na tadašnje socijalne, gospodarske i ekonomske prilike, te negiraju postojanje bilo kakvih komunističkih ideja u djelu. S druge strane, socijalisti i komunisti zauzimaju stav da je Utopija jedan sasvim ozbiljan real-politički program, a jedan od glavnih zastupnika ove interpretacije je Karl Kautsky koji proglašava Morea prvim zastupnikom modernog socijalizma i komunizma. Treća skupina interpreta Moreova djela, podjednako obuhvaća i protestantske i katoličke pisce. Dok se protestanti i anglikanski teolozi trude dokazati nepostojanost Moreovog političkog mišljenja, katolički interpretatori nastoje opovrgnuti bilo kakve proturječnosti u Moreovom djelu. Kao što vidimo, u povijesti političkog mišljenja brojni kvalitetni tumači iznose niz često suprotnih tumačenja i upravo u tome leži aktualnost Moreove Utopije.
Što se tiče recepcije Moreove Utopije u našim krajevima, marksističko tumačenje prema kojem će se s ukinućem privatnog vlasništva prevladati i klasne razlike, dok se raspodjela sredstava vrši po komunističkom principu: svakome prema potrebi zastupaju beogradski sociolog Vojin Milić, te Juraj Kolaković. Interpretacija Vladimira Filipovića je prvi pokušaj u nas da se istakne Moreova filozofska tematika, a to je da smisao državnog, odnosno društvenog uređenja leži u starom stoičkom idealu sreće koja se postiže krepkošću.
Iako nailazimo na različitost mišljenja glede moderniteta Moreove Utopije, svakako trebamo istaknuti da ovo djelo donosi novi način razmišljanja koji nadilazi zbilju i stvara novi političko-socijalni ideal, a takva forma utopijskog mišljenja predstavlja sasvim novi oblik političke misli karakteristične za novovjekovnu svijest i novovjekovnu filozofiju.
Iako je More u svom „najboljem državnom uređenju“ nastojao ostvariti težnje tek nastajuće građanske klase, humanističke inteligencije i prosvijećenog klera, njegov model nije ostao pošteđen kontradikcija. Iako u Utopiji dolazi do miješanja eutopičnih i distopičnih elemenata, ovo je svakako jedno je od najboljih uradaka koje je proizvela humanistička kultura a koje je dosegnulo status svjetsko-povijesnog klasika i trajnu aktualnost. |
Abstract (english) | Sir Thomas More was born on 6th of February of 1477 or 1478 in London in a family which climbed the social ladder through the successful practice of law. He attended a Latin school, served as a page of archbishop Morton, who was then Lord High Chancellor of England, and studied the trivium at Oxford University. It is there where he became closely associated with English humanists Grocyn, Linacre and Colet and, following their example, studied Greek and wrote a number of humanist works. Respecting his father's wishes, he studied law and later became a successful lawyer. As a well educated lawyer and a respectable citizen, he started to work in the public service and became the undersheriff of London in 1510. After a period of vacillation, he started to serve at the court of Henry VIII, where his primary role was that of his personal adviser. In 1529, a major turning point of his career occurred when Henry VIII named him Lord High Chancellor of England and, thereby, the head of his advisers.
Thomas More and Erasmus of Rotterdam were close friends and also the main representatives of the northern Renaissance and Christian humanism, one of the four basic currents of political thought during the Renaissance. Both of them were supporters of a Church reform which was supposed to be achieved through a practical Christian approach, based on piety and rationalism, rather than violence and persecution.
As it was for the rest of the humanists, the English Reformation represented a major change in his life. In 1532, alleging health problems, he left his office because he did not support the king in his conflict with the pope on the matters of the royal divorce and the separation of Church of England. After refusing to take the oath which acknowledged Henry VIII as the supreme ruler of the English Church, he was imprisoned in the London Tower. On the basis of one false accusation, he was sentenced to death for high treason and executed on 6th of July of 1535, together with bishop John Fisher. Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1886 and he was subsequently canonised in 1935 because of the sacrifice he made in defence of Catholicism, the holy, apostolic Roman Church and st. Peter's primacy.
Thomas More lived during the period of Renaissance and humanism, when traditional medieval formulations and outdated dogmas were consciously being abandoned and the foundations of a new relationship towards nature and life being created. In the base of this spiritual and cultural revolution is socio-economic life. During More's life the feudal economic system was disappearing and new urban-capitalist economic relations were developing. The capitalist mode of production in England first developed in the agricultural sector because of high quality of English wool which became the most wanted raw material in the textile industry. Wool trade replaced fixed class positions and traditional working relations with workers' mobility and monetary exchange, bringing the newly freed serfs in a risky situation, while giving the capitalist lessees and land owners the opportunity to accumulate wealth rapidly at the expense of others. This resulted with the process of land enclosure in England, especially during the 16th century.
The main consequences of enclosure were depopulation, the destruction of common pastures, pauperisation of farmers and the migration of the poor to the cities. On the one hand, the number of poor people, the homeless, thieves and beggars was increasing rapidly, and on the other, a monopoly of the wealthy living in luxury was being created. The unfavourable consequences of the capitalist mode of production and the general state of the economy inspired More to think of possible solutions. In his most famous work, Utopia, he proposes a new mode of production which is a socialist, planned and rational mode of production, distribution and consumption which represents a certain reaction to capitalism of the day.
More's Utopia was written under the influence of humanist and reformist schools of thought in Britain and it represents the model for utopian literature. As soon as it was published, it provoked a great interest of the reading audience since its political literary character contains something unreal – something which challenges reality and inspires readers to take a different approach in understanding the world. More structured it in the form of freely connected dialogues and wrote it in two tomes in 1516, partially in Flanders and partially in London.
In the first tome, More severely criticises key social issues in England, such as capital punishment and the politics of land enclosure and condemns the ruling feudal class for striving for wealth and luxury without wanting to work. He also discusses whether philosophers should advise rulers on political matters. In the second tome, More describes the political and social structure of Utopia where happiness, prosperity and justice rule and poverty and inequality are non-existent. The main idea of Utopia is the functioning of a planned society where there is no private property: all goods are communal. Since the goods belong to the community, and the society is divided in families, the social structure is egalitarian.
The main dilemma which arises in the interpretation of this work is the following: should Utopia be seen as a satirical and allegorical literary piece or a serious political work? The supporters of the conservative interpretation think of Utopia as a stern satire of the socio-economic situation of the day and deny that it contains any communist ideas. On the other hand, socialist and communist interpreters consider it to be a serious real-political program. One of the main proponents of the latter approach is Karl Kautsky who proclaims More to be the first representative of modern socialism and communism. The third group of interpreters includes both protestant and catholic writers. The protestant and Anglican theologians try to demonstrate the inconsistencies of More's political theory, while the catholic interpretors try to prove there are no contradictions in the work. As we can see, in the history of political theory, many respected interpreters expressed conflicted interpretations and that is precisely what demonstrates the topicality of More's Utopia.
As for the reception of More's Utopia in Croatia and the neighbouring countries, the Marxist interpretation which claims that the abolishment of private property would result with the disappearance of the class divisions as long as the distribution of resources was done by the communist principle: to everyone according to their needs is supported by the Belgradian sociologist Vojin Milić and Juraj Kolaković. The interpretation of Vladimir Filipović is the first attempt in Croatia to put emphasis on the philosophical part of More's writing in which he argues that the purpose of state and social organisation is in the ancient stoic ideal of happiness which can be reached by the path of virtue.
Although we encounter different opinions on how modern More's Utopia is, it's important to emphasise that this work opens a new way of thinking which transcends reality and creates a new political and social ideal. This kind of utopian thinking represents a new form of political thought which is characteristic of the Modern Age philosophy.
Even though More was trying to fulfil the longings of a newly forming middle class, consisting of humanist thinkers and the enlightened clergy in his “best social organisation”, his model was not spared of contradictions. Utopia may contain a mixture of eutopic and dystopic elements, but it remains one of the best works of humanism, which reached the status of a global historical classic of enduring topicality. |