Utopia 1516-2016

by Han van Ruler (Editor), Erik Bom (Contributor), Albert Burms (Contributor)

This year marks the five-hundredth anniversary of Thomas More's widely influential book Utopia , and this volume brings together a number of scholars to consider the book, its long afterlife, and specifically its effects on political activists over the centuries. In addition to thorough studies of Utopia itself, and appraisals of More's relationship with Erasmus, the book presents detailed studies of the effect of Utopia on early modern England and the Low Countries, as well as philosophical reflections on ideology and the utopian mind, and much more.

244 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2025

Reviews

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two essays by Sissa and van Ruler are some of the most lucid and persuasive writing on More in recent years, and the book is worth is just for these two.

The other six essays are not directly relevant to understanding More himself so much as critiquing the concept of utopia and utopianism. These essays are more relevant to Rawlsian and Marxist thought than to More scholarship. Good points for and against utopian thinking, though a little stuffy at times.