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Classic Books Lecture Series
Thursday, January 26, 2012, Professor Terri Tinkle: Sir Thomas More, Utopia
Thomas More’s Newly Discovered Island - Discoveries of new lands abound in 1516, when Sir Thomas More publishes Utopia, a fantasy exploration of an island where only children admire gold, religious tolerance is commonplace, property is held in common, wars are avoided, and slaves do the dirty work.
The work gives us access to More’s early thinking about the role of the humanist philosopher in the state, and to the ideas that will lead him to serve Henry VIII and ultimately, tragically, to die for that service.
While foreshadowing More’s martyrdom, the work also reveals his playful side, his astonishing imaginative capacity, and his genuine excitement at the discovery of new worlds. Utopia takes the reader on a voyage back to the renaissance, where we encounter ideas about humanist education and the state that are still relevant today.
All lectures are at 7:30 p.m. at Grosse Pointe South High School, 11 Grosse Pointe Boulevard at Fisher Road in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Friends members, students and teachers with identification have free admission. General admission is $10 at the door. (There are no presales.)
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