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Utopia In response to contemporary social, economical, and political circumstances of England in the early sixteenth century, Thomas More developed characteristics of an ideal society and presented them in his book Utopia. England during the 1500s was mostly rural and underdeveloped. The practice of converting arable land into pastures resulted in massive unemployment, forcing many to resort to theft and other unlawful measures. The average king was often corrupt, having dishonest methods of raising money and starting unnecessary aggressive wars. More’s “negative attack on European wickedness” suggests several alternative solutions to England’s severe social and political problems (More II). As a civic humanist it is one’s duty to serve the city and government in any way possible. More’s beliefs as a civic humanist are presented in Book I. According to More a wise and moral man should give advice to the king, but carefully and indirectly. Raphael Hythlodaeus, however, disagrees with More stating that “there’s no room at Court for philosophy” (More 63). Raphael’s beliefs portray monasticism, the tradition that men should be contempt with life and live passive lives. More recognizes the impo