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/lit/ - Literature

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9600701 No.9600701 [Reply] [Original]

Are there any essential texts I should read before Utopia by Thomas More? I found this at Goodwill for like a buck and I'd really like to dive into it ASAP.

Also general thread to discuss any philosophical texts about the ideal society, I guess. I know Plato's Republic is one of the most influential texts.

>> No.9600738

just read it

>> No.9600752

>>9600701
Plato's Laws is better.

>> No.9600839

>>9600752
How so?

>> No.9601166

>>9600701
Firstly make sure to get a good translation. There are several poor ones. I can;t recall off the top of my head, but the most current penguin classics is fine. Their first translation was garbage.

Secondly, read up on the history and context, as the nature of the text is more interesting than the content. Major spoiler: More doesn't take the utopia he depicts seriously. And if you look at the etymology of utopia it basically translates as "no place". You should take this note of this going into the text in order to properly gauge the tone.

>> No.9601190

>>9600701
No, it is actually an important foundational book to early socialism and anarchism

>> No.9601318

>>9601166
The Penguin Classics version from 2012 translated by Dominic Baker-Smith? The Penguin Classics I have is translated by Paul Turner.

>> No.9602758

>>9601318
The Paul Turner one is the bad one. Go for the Baker-Smith if you can.

>> No.9603695

>>9600701
Start with Past Master.

>> No.9603739

I got a blue Cambridge book and I found all the extra material to be highly useful and helpful. I would often skip the footnotes and go back and read them at the end and reference the text, because there are so many it makes it hard to follow when you're constantly stopping to get a deeper context. It wasn't very long, and had a great introduction, too. All the supplemental material was great.

Can't really comment on the translation because I don't read Latin very well.