^1. A sampling of the most interesting and thought-provoking literature on More's Utopia includes Hexter, J.H., More's Utopia: The Biography of an Idea (Westport: Green-wood Press, 1976);Google ScholarJohnson, Robbin, More's Utopia: Ideal and Illusion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969);Google ScholarLogan, George M., The Meaning of More's Utopia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983);Google ScholarNenzda, James, “Political Idealism in More's Utopia” Review of Politics 46 (1984): 428–51;Google ScholarNeumann, Harry, “On the Platonism of More's Utopia, Social Research 33 (Winter 1966): 495–512;Google ScholarEdward, Surtz S.J., The Praise of Pleasure (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1957)Google Scholar and The Praise of Wisdom (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1957);Google ScholarSylvester, R.S., “Si Hythlodaeo Credimus “ in Essential Articles for the Study of Thomas More, ed. Sylvester, and Marc'hadour, (Hamden: Archon, 1977);Google ScholarWhite, Thomas I., “Pride and the Public Good: Thomas More's Use of Plato in Utopia” Journal of the History of Philosophy 20 (10 1982): 329–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

^2. Nenzda, , “Political Idealism in More's Utopia” p. 430.Google Scholar

^3. Johnson, , More's Utopia: Ideal and Illusion, footnote 7, pp. 7–8.Google Scholar

^4. Sylvester, , “Si Hythlodaeo Credimus,” pp. 298–300.Google Scholar

^5. Neumann, , “On the Platonism of More's Utopia” pp. 501, 504, 509.Google Scholar

^6. Logan, , Meaning of More's Utopia, pp. 113, 101.Google Scholar

^7. Complete Works of St. Thomas More, vol. 4: Utopia, ed. Edward, Surtz S.J., and Hexter, J.H. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1965), pp. 107Google Scholar, 11. 20–22. All references to More's Utopia are to this edition.

^8. Only part of the discussion is actually presented in book 1; there is also a long conversation preceding the dialogue that is actually reported, thus making Raphael's revelation of his vision even more long-awaited than it already appears.

^9. Logan, , Meaning of More's Utopia, p. 123.Google Scholar

^10. Ibid.: Raphael “appears to be unable to imagine that the philosopher [at court] could do anything other than offer routine pontifications” (p. 113).

^11. Utopia, p. 101, 11. 19–36.Google Scholar

^12. Or, as I will argue, is Raphael's acting not rather with respect to his idealism and naivete?

^13. Utopia, p. 99, 11. 30 ff.Google Scholar

^14. Ibid., p. 55, 11. 1–8.

^15. Ibid., p. 53, 1. 28.

^16. Cf. Xenophon Memorabilia 2. 1. 8 ff. Aristippus wants neither to rule nor to be ruled, preferring the freedom to move from country to country. Socrates reminds him of the danger he may face if he neither rules nor accommodates himself to or takes into consideration those who do rule. The stronger often treat the weaker like slaves. Raphael's “blindness” may be more like that of Aristippus than of a political idealist. In connection with his family, More says, “One must take care to be as agreeable as possible to those whom nature has supplied, or chance has made, or you yourself have chosen, to be the companions of your life, provided you do not spoil them by kindness, or through indulgence make masters out of your servants” (Utopia, p. 39, 11. 37 ff.Google Scholar).

^17. Ibid., p. 51, 11. 29–39.

^18. Ibid., p. 99, 11. 11–29.

^19. Ibid., p. 53, 11. 30–35.

^20. Ibid., p. 99, 11. 11–29.

^21. Ibid., p. 57, 11. 1–6. Cf. Plato Republic 496b.

^22. Utopia, p. 309,Google Scholar editor's footnote to p. 54, 1. 32: “Note that Hythlodaeus disregards the first or social part of Giles' argument, which later becomes the heart of the dispute.”

^23. Ibid., p. 87, 11. 16–17.

^24. Cf. ibid., p. 57,11. 7–21; p. 87,11. 7–15; p. 99, 11. 11 ff., with p. 107,11. 5–16.

^25. Plato Meno 71c.

^26. Utopia, p. 39, 1. 11.Google Scholar

^27. Ibid., p. 49, 11. 36–37.

^28. Virgil, Aeneid 5. 833–61.Google Scholar

^29. Plato, Epistle VII 329b.Google Scholar

^30. According to Giles, Raphael's sailing is not like that of Palinurus, but of Odysseus, or rather of Plato. Odysseus is notorious for his cleverness and ability to dissemble (for a treatment of this theme see Leake, James, “Introduction to the Lesser Hippias,” in The Roots of Political Philosophy, ed. Pangle, Thomas (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987), pp. 300–306)Google Scholar. Is Giles here warning More of Raphael's own cleverness and ability to dissemble?

^31. Plato Apology of Socrates 32a.

^32. Surtz and Hexter complain, “Hythlodaeus' answer is practical, not theoretical. He points to the res, the reality: Utopia, a supremely successful communistic state. As a philosopher, he should have met More's objections on the theoretical level” (Utopia, p. 382, footnote to p. 106, 1. 13Google Scholar).

^33. Ibid., p. 57, 11. 10–14.

^34. Ibid., p. 59, 11. 29–32.

^35. Ibid., p. 59, 1. 39; p. 61, 1. 1.

^36. Ibid., p. 65, 11. 15–18.

^37. Ibid., p. 81, 11. 7–18.

^38. Ibid., p. 85, 11. 36–38.

^39. Sylvester, , “Si Hythlodaeo Credimus,” p. 298.Google Scholar

^40. Logan, , Meaning of More's Utopia, pp. 45–47.Google Scholar

^41. Ibid., p. 16.

^42. Utopia, p. 81, 1. 16; p. 85, 1. 33.Google Scholar

^43. Ibid., p. 59, 11. 29–32.

^44. Ibid., p. 85, 1. 39 – p. 87, 1. 4.

^45. Cf. ibid., p. 69, 1. 38 with p. 105, 11. 4–7.

^46. Ibid., p. 61, 11. 15–16.

^47. Ibid., p. 89, 11. 23–30; p. 91, 11. 21–30; p. 95, 11. 10–19; p. 101, 11. 5 ff.

^48. Ibid., p. 87, 11. 4–6.

^49. Ibid., 11. 7–10.

^50. Cf. Apology of Socrates 29d–e, 30a–b, 31d–32a; Republic 496b–e; Gorgias 515d-516e, 519a.

^51. Utopia, p. 87, 11. 11–15.Google Scholar

^52. Ibid., 11. 16–18.

^53. Plato, , Epistle VII.Google Scholar

^54. Works, p. 87, 11. 23–25.Google Scholar

^55. Ibid., p. 89, 11. 26 ff.

^56. Ibid., p. 95, 11. 10–11.

^57. Ibid., p. 87, 1. 26 – p. 95, 1. 9.

^58. Ibid., p. 59, 11. 25–27.

^59. Ibid., p. 99, 11. 11–35.

^60. Ibid., p. 101, 11. 5–9.

^61. Ibid., p. 61, 11. 15–16.

^62. Ibid., p. 103, 11. 16–23.

^63. Cf. ibid., p. 103, 11. 9–23 with p. 105, 11. 24–31.

^64. Ibid., p. 107, 11. 5–6.

^65. Ibid., p. 245, 11. 17–26.

^66. Ibid., p. 99, 11. 3–5.

^67. Raphael says that if to tell falsehoods is the part of a philosopher, then it certainly is not for him. Raphael here practically denies that he is a philosopher. Under More's “attack,” Raphael has become aware of how vulnerable philosophers are to criticism of their avoidance of political activity. It seems that Raphael has not thought through this difficulty. More obviously has. More barely alludes to his studies and learning, portraying himself as a citizen, not a philosopher. Could it be that Raphael by this point begins to imitate More in his self-defense? That is, just as More practically disavows the label “philosopher,” does Raphael in effect deny that he is a philosopher if that role requires lying in order to present a better image of himself to counter the attack on him? Perhaps defending philosophy may require concealing philosophy, or certain aspects of it. In this, More himself imitates Plato's Socrates. Socrates says that he does nothing but go to each and every Athenian to exhort them to virtue (Apology of Socrates 31b). But when we see Socrates in the other dialogues he is more often than not speaking to interesting strangers and sophists. More says in his letter to Giles, “I devote almost the whole day in public to other men's affairs and the remainder to my own. I leave to myself, that is to learning, nothing at all.” We see More spending the better part of two days speaking to that interesting traveler, Raphael Hythlodaeus. We might also note that in criticizing Raphael for avoiding public duty More is choosing to emphasize an accusation against the philosopher which may be more amenable to public response than other possible charges. (We might wonder how Raphael would have responded to other charges.) Socrates himself brings this accusation to the forefront toward the end of his defense speech (Apology of Socrates 31c). Does Socrates wish to encourage the Athenians to forget the other charges? In response to the charge that he has avoided his public duty, the charge More brings against Raphael, Socrates attacks the corruption of political life and emphasizes that he is too decent to be politically active, just as Raphael does. Earlier in his trial Socrates had casually said that he lacks the leisure to take care of the business of the city because of his service to the god (Apology of Socrates 23b). Socrates in this remark says nothing about the gross corruption of politics or his special moral purity, just as Raphael's first response to More and Giles similarly lacked such assertions. This might indicate that the “idealism” both of Socrates and Raphael surfaces only in response to a pressing rhetorical need and may not represent their true character. Perhaps it is necessary, for certain purposes, for a politically astute philosopher also to be a “dispenser of nonsense.”

^68. Utopia, , p. 55, 11. 9–12.Google Scholar

^69. Ibid., p. 103, 1. 21.

^70. Ibid., p. 39.

^71. Given the view of Raphael put forward here, perhaps he deserves less credit than he usually receives, depending on one's perspective.

^72. Plato Republic 487b-d.

^73. Republic of Plato, translated with notes and interpretive essay by Bloom, Allan (New York: Basic Books, 1968),Google Scholar 520a ff.