good, benevolent, nature through this moral sense, led
to a belief in the perfection of human society: political
DEMOCRACY, legal and economic EQUALITY, and social
JUSTICE. This positive view of human nature contrasted
with the traditional Augustinian and Calvinist CHRIS-
TIAN view of the human’s innate sinful nature
(redeemable only through Christ and good only by the
Holy Spirit). By situating morality and ethics in a
physical sense, these philosophers also tried to recon-
cile traditional grounds for justice with the new scien-
tific materialism of their age. Now, good conduct didn’t
require great philosophy or religion (or grace), but
simply the development and application of a natural
human faculty that everyone possessed. Its implica-
tions were thus also EGALITARIANand democratic. This
view did, however, believe that some people were born
with a keener moral sense than others (just as some
have a better sense of hearing or smell), but even a
“crippled” or deformed moral sense could be compen-
sated for by training and cultivation. So even if a gov-
ernment would be best if governed by people of
superior moral sense, those “disabled” in that faculty
should be provided for by the society at large.
In some ways, this concept resembles ARISTOTLE’s
idea (in the Politics) of the human capacity for ethical
judgment or knowledge of justice, the biblical idea of
the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1–8), and
St. Paul’s view that everybody’s conscience teaches
them right and wrong (Romans 2:15). The moral sense
merely places this moral capacity in a physical consti-
tution rather than in reason or spirit.
More, Sir/St. Thomas (1478–1535) English
statesman, churchman, and political philosopher
Most famous for his book UTOPIA,which continues the
literature of ideal societies begun in PLATO’s Republic,
Mor e represents the High MIDDLE AGESand RENAISSANCE
in European political thought. He studied at Oxford
and for the law at the Inns at Chancery. His brilliance
led to a distinguished political career, culminating as
lord chancellor of England under King HENRY VIII.
Deeply religious, he wrote extensively on CHRISTIAN
doctrine especially CATHOLIC/Protestant disputes. His
home was an international center for the great
thinkers of his age, including ERASMUS, Colet, and
Groeyn. He refused to affirm the king’s divorce and
was executed for treason, making him an official mar-
tyr of the church. His resistance to civil authority on
religious grounds make him, like Dietrich BONHOEFFER
later, a prominent figure in CHURCH-AND-STATEcontro-
versies.
More’s principal work in political philosophy is the
famous book Utopia (which means “no where”)—a
description of an ideal society and government. Like
all utopian literature, More’s book critiques present
wrongs and social injustices of his time and prescribes
ideal solutions. This medieval vision of the good
Christian society is a mixture of traditional HIERARCHIES
(in the family and state) and radical COMMUNISM(in the
economy). This blending of conservative morality with
SOCIALIST EQUALITY is sometimes compared to the
Catholic monastery, where strict order and obedience
mixes with FREEDOMand DEMOCRACY. That a religious
community influences More’s conception of the ideal
state shows the depth of his faith and its relevance to
his political thought. Also revealing his relating of reli-
gion and politics is the governing council of Utopia,
which is made up of political and religious officials
regulating every aspect of life for the common good.
Rationality and intellectualism are valued by More but
only if balanced by revelation (the Bible). The spiritual
is always higher in importance, to More, than the
worldly. He is particularly troubled by the widespread
poverty in England, reflecting the rise of MODERN CAPI-
TALISMand the decline of FEUDALISM, producing alarm-
ing numbers of paupers in the land. More’s
prescriptions of common property and laws against
idleness seek to cure this economic ill in 16th-century
England.
Thomas More is recognized as a great intellectual,
churchman, and “Renaissance man,” whose life and
ideals changed history.Further Readings
Fox, A. Thomas More: History and Providence.New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1982.
Guy, A. The Public Career of Sir Thomas More.New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1980.multiculturalism
A movement and IDEOLOGYin American education and
politics during the late 20th century. As opposed to a
traditional view of United States culture as predomi-
nantly European, Judeo-CHRISTIAN, and Lockean LIB-
ERAL, multiculturalism taught that the United States is
a collection of equally valid cultures (African, Asian,
Hindu, etc.) and that not to value all the same consti-multiculturalism 213