The outstanding philosopher of the Renaissance Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639), having received an excellent education for his time and having studied the works of ancient and medieval philosophers, as a young man became actively interested in politics: he spoke in political and theological debates, actively criticized the government and the established order.
Active protests against the despotism of the authorities ultimately lead to accusations against T. Campanella of conspiracy and the expulsion of the philosopher from Calabria to Rome. Thus begins a long period of Tommaso’s wanderings, during which his emergence as a thinker took place. During his travels, the philosopher finds confirmation of his ideas about oppression and despotism, and sees the suffering of people. New life experience pushes him to lead a conspiracy, having discovered which, the authorities sentenced T. Campanella to life imprisonment. In total, the philosopher spent 30 years of his life in prison. There he wrote his main work - the utopia “City of the Sun”. The book was secretly transported to France by T. Campanella's students and published there.
The philosopher brings to public consideration the problem of the relationship between the interests of the individual and society. T. Campanella's interest in this issue became a logical continuation of his speeches against the orders that existed in the society of his time. Thus, the “City of the Sun” became the thinker’s social program. In this work, he presented the ideal, in his opinion, social structure of the state, where people live in harmony with the outside world and with each other.
An ideal state is a state of general happiness and prosperity. In it, T. Campanella excludes the principle of the superiority of some people over others. Governance in an ideal state is carried out according to reason, thanks to which there is simply no coercion and violence, unrest and strife in the lives of its citizens.
Governance of the state is in the hands of the aristocracy, which includes specialists and scientists. The first among the leaders is the Metaphysician. He is widely erudite and carries out the general management of the city of the Sun on the basis of reason. The Metaphysician's assistants are Power (issues of security), Wisdom (development of sciences) and Love (issues of childbirth and education). Each of the assistants has his own assistants, who are more specialized specialists (for example, Politician, Mathematician, Logician, Strategist, etc.). Metaphysician, Power, Wisdom and Love rule until someone appears who surpasses them. In this case, they themselves will resign. The remaining leaders of the state are re-elected at the Great Council, which meets twice a month.
There are few laws in the state of T. Campanella and they are extremely simple. All of them can be read on a marble plaque located at the entrance to the main temple of the ideal city. The general meaning of each of the laws is: do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself.
The philosopher considered egoism to be an extremely destructive phenomenon, and therefore sought to eradicate it in his ideal state by abolishing the institution of private property. By ridding people of private property, society, according to the philosopher, will prevail over selfishness caused by the desire to accumulate material wealth. This way people will have nothing to share, which will rid society of inequality and conflicts.
In addition to private property in the City of the Sun, the family has also been abolished as an institution. The children are raised by everyone together. From the age of 7 they study and work in the field. In the process of education, their abilities and inclinations are revealed.
People in the City of the Sun live in harmony with nature. Everything in the city is shared. Citizens work to increase the city's wealth. In turn, the state provides citizens with everything necessary for their existence. Therefore, work here is not at all a necessity, but an honorable duty of a citizen.
Labor in T. Campanella's ideal state is strictly organized. Therefore it is effective and productive. The working day in the City of the Sun is only 4 hours. The main principle of its organization is the division of both mental and physical labor. At the same time, the work of citizens is made easier due to the widespread use of numerous instruments and devices. Science is generally at the forefront here.
During non-working hours, residents of an ideal state devote themselves to the harmonious development of spirit and body, improving their mental and physical abilities. According to T. Campanella, this lifestyle allows people to live on average up to 100 years.
There is a cult of the Sun in the city. This is the religion of its inhabitants. The human soul, in their opinion, is immortal.
The work of T. Campanella was not the first of its kind (the earlier social-utopian works of Plato and T. More are known), but it had a significant influence on the development of philosophical thought in the Renaissance, as well as in the modern era. The further development of social-utopian thought is largely due to the success of T. Campanella's "City of the Sun".
Ideas of social equality
In prison, Campanella certainly reflected on inequality and the best form of government. People of modern times, in essence, remained slaves. Slaves to their kings, their employers. There was no talk of any equality of rights. “The City of the Sun” is an ideal, from the author’s point of view, society, where everyone works and there are no “idle scoundrels and parasites.” This idea was especially relevant for the oppressed people. Campanella came to the conclusion: the existing political system is unjust. For people to live better, it must be replaced by another, more perfect system, where all people will be equal to each other. The details of this idea are carefully worked out and described by Tomaso.
They all take part in military affairs, agriculture and cattle breeding: everyone is supposed to know this, since this knowledge is considered honorable among them.
Since everyone’s position is determined from childhood in accordance with the location and combination of the stars observed at his birth, thanks to this everyone, each working in accordance with his natural inclinations, performs his duties properly and with pleasure, since they are natural for everyone. This applies equally to military affairs and to all kinds of other activities.
However, if a person does not have vision, he can scratch wool, pluck feathers for pillows; the lame can stand guard; a deaf person has sight, etc. In extreme cases, a cripple can be sent to the village, where he will definitely find some kind of work that suits his health.
But Campanella doesn't take people's personal preferences into account at all. Residents of the City of the Sun become puppets, cogs of the system, deprived of the right to choose.
Production and consumption in the city of the Sun are of a public nature. Four hours of labor is enough to satisfy all the needs of society. More has a similar idea, where Utopians are prohibited from working more than 6 hours. Why shouldn't people be allowed to work extra hours? Then the principle of universal equality will be violated.
Campanella writes: “The distribution of everything is in the hands of the officials; but since knowledge, honors and pleasures are the common property, no one can appropriate anything for himself.”
As in Plato's Republic, the city of the Sun is dominated by a spiritual aristocracy. However, for Campanella this is not a closed caste “with a special routine of life and a special upbringing.” The head of the state for Campanella is not just a philosopher, like Plato, but also a high priest in one person. Campanella himself was a priest, so religion occupies a worthy place in the “City of the Sun”.
Judges and lower officials in the city of the Sun are teachers and priests - the intelligentsia. Campanella himself belonged to the intelligentsia class, to whom he secured power in the City of the Sun. The intelligentsia of that time was relatively educated, and who else, if not they, could understand all the issues of managing society. The political system of the City of the Sun can be characterized as a kind of intellectual oligarchy under formal democracy. Thus, power in the City of the Sun is more distant from the people than in More's Utopia.
Ways to change society
The main cause of evil, according to Campanella, is human vices, primarily selfishness, which gives rise to the desire in some to live at the expense of others. “But when we renounce selfishness, all we have left is love for the community.” Campanella wants to achieve this with the help of a state that punishes and suppresses wrong behavior.
Other reasons for popular misfortune, according to Campanella, are ignorance and lack of understanding of the need for a transition to a new, more perfect social order. Therefore, special attention is paid to public education and upbringing. From the moment of birth, children begin to learn and grow up in society. The main method for this is learning from the paintings that cover the walls of the city's houses. At the age of 10, children begin to learn in practice, not from pictures. At the same time, the children pass, and here Campanella repeats More's ideas, along with general subjects, crafts and agriculture.
In the remaining 4 hours of work, it was assumed that people would develop in soul and body. Either study science or exercise.
The meaning of the book
Both More and Campanella see the ideal as totalitarian societies, where the lives of citizens are consistent with the interests of society and people themselves do not decide what to do.
Campanella's City of the Sun offers an alternative to the society that existed at the time. In the process of narration, the author examines the norms of behavior, morality, and statehood in an “ideal” society, but essentially without changing the existing social system. That is why the inhabitants of the City of the Sun need priests to communicate with God.
The proposed reform of the education system, which contributes to the formation of a comprehensively developed, full-fledged person, deserves special interest. It also provides the prerequisites for the creation of a common universal language capable of linking together all sciences and arts.
Current page: 1 (book has 4 pages in total)
City of the Sun
Tommaso Campanella
Stilo 1568 – Parigi 1639
Interlocutors
Chief Hotelier and Sailor from Genoa.
Gostinnik
Please tell me about all your adventures during your last voyage.
Sailor
I have already told you about my trip around the world, during which I finally came to Taprobana, where I was forced to go ashore. There, fearing the natives, I took refuge in the forest; when I finally got out of it, I found myself on a wide plain lying exactly on the equator.
Gostinnik
Well, what happened to you?
Sailor
I suddenly encountered a large force of armed men and women, many of whom understood our language. They immediately took me to the City of the Sun.
Gostinnik
Tell me, how is this city structured and what is its mode of government?
Sailor
On a vast plain rises a high hill, on which most of the city is located; Its numerous outskirts extend far beyond the foot of the mountain, the dimensions of which are such that the city is over two miles in diameter, and its circumference is seven. Due to the fact that it lies along the hump of a hill, its area is larger than if it were on the plain. The city is divided into seven vast belts, or circles, named after the seven planets. One gets from one circle to another along four cobbled streets through four gates facing the four cardinal directions. And the city, really, is built in such a way that if the first circle had been taken by storm, then to take the second it would have been necessary to use twice as much effort; and to master the third - even more. So, in order to capture each next one, it would be necessary to constantly use twice as much effort and labor. Thus, if anyone planned to take this city by storm, he would have to take it seven times. But, in my opinion, it is impossible to take the first circle: the earthen rampart surrounding it is so wide and it is so fortified with bastions, towers, bombards and ditches.
So, having entered the northern gate (which is bound with iron and so made that it can easily rise and fall and be firmly locked thanks to the amazingly dexterous arrangement of its projections, adjusted to move in the recesses of strong jambs), I saw a flat space seventy paces wide between the first and second next to the walls. From there you can see vast chambers connected to the wall of the second circle so that they can be said to form one whole building. At half the height of these chambers there are continuous arches, on which there are galleries for walking and which are supported from below by beautiful thick pillars, encircling the arcades like colonnades or monastery passages. From below, entrances to these buildings are only on the inner, concave side of the wall; the lower floors are entered directly from the street, and the upper ones are entered by marble staircases leading to similar internal galleries, and from them to beautiful upper chambers with windows on both the inside and outside of the wall and separated by light partitions. The thickness of the convex, that is, external, wall is eight spans, the concave one is three, and the intermediate ones are from one to one and a half spans.
From here you can go to the next passage between the walls, three steps narrower than the first, from which you can see the first wall of the next circle with similar galleries above and below; and on the inside there is another wall, encircling the chambers, with the same projections and passages, supported from below on columns; at the top, where the doors to the upper chambers are located, it is painted with magnificent paintings. Thus, in similar circles and through double walls, inside of which there are chambers with galleries on columns protruding outward, you reach the very last circle, walking all the time on level ground; however, when passing through the double gates (in the outer and inner walls), you have to climb steps, but they are arranged in such a way that the ascent is almost unnoticeable: you walk along them obliquely, and the height of the stairs is therefore barely noticeable. At the top of the mountain there is an open and spacious square, in the middle of which stands a temple, erected with amazing art.
Gostinnik
Continue, continue, speak, I conjure you with my life!
Sailor
The temple is beautiful with its completely round shape. It is not surrounded by walls, but rests on thick and proportionate columns. The huge dome of the temple, erected with amazing art, ends in the middle, or at the zenith, with a small dome with a hole above the altar. This single altar is located in the center of the temple and is surrounded by columns. The temple has a circumference of over three hundred and fifty steps. On the capitals of the columns on the outside rest arches projecting about eight paces and supported by another row of columns resting on a wide and strong parapet three paces high; between it and the first row of columns there are lower galleries paved with beautiful stones; and on the concave side of the parapet, divided by frequent and wide passages, fixed benches are arranged; and between the internal columns that support the temple itself, there is no shortage of beautiful portable chairs.
On the altar there is only one large globe with an image of the entire sky and another with an image of the earth. Then, on the arch of the main dome, all the stars of the sky from the first to the sixth magnitude are depicted, and under each of them its name and the forces with which it influences earthly phenomena are indicated in three verses. There are poles there, and large and small circles, drawn in the temple perpendicular to the horizon, but not completely, since there is no wall below; but they can be supplemented by those circles that are marked on the globes of the altar. The floor of the temple shines with valuable stones. Seven golden lamps, named after the seven planets, hang burning with unquenchable fire. The small dome above the temple is surrounded by several small beautiful cells, and behind the open passage above the galleries, or arches, between the internal and external columns there are many other spacious cells, where up to forty-nine priests and ascetics live. Above the smaller dome rises only a kind of weather vane, indicating the direction of the winds, of which they number up to thirty-six. They know which year is predicted by which winds, and what changes on land and sea, but only in relation to their climate. There, under the weather vane, a scroll written in gold letters is kept.
Gostinnik
I ask you, valiant husband, explain to me in detail their entire management system. This particularly interests me.
Sailor
Their supreme ruler is a priest, called “Sun” in their language, but in ours we would call him a Metaphysician. He is the head of everyone, both secular and spiritual, and on all issues and disputes he makes the final decision. He has three co-rulers: Pon, Sin and Mor, or in our opinion: Power, Wisdom and Love.
Power is in charge of everything related to war and peace: the art of war, the supreme command in war; but even in this he is not superior to the Sun. He manages military posts, soldiers, supplies, fortifications, sieges, military vehicles, workshops and the craftsmen who serve them.
The liberal arts, crafts and all kinds of sciences, as well as the corresponding officials and scientists, as well as educational institutions, are subject to the knowledge of Wisdom. The number of officials subordinate to him corresponds to the number of sciences: there is an Astrologer, also a Cosmographer, a Geometer, a Historiographer, a Poet, a Logician, a Rhetorician, a Grammarist, a Physician, a Physicist, a Politician, and a Moralist. And they have only one book, called “Wisdom,” where all the sciences are presented in an amazingly concise and accessible way. It is read to the people according to the Pythagorean rite.
By the command of Wisdom, throughout the city the walls, internal and external, lower and upper, are painted with the most excellent paintings, displaying all the sciences in an amazingly harmonious sequence. On the outer walls of the temple and on the curtains that fall when the priest pronounces the word, so that his voice is not lost, bypassing the listeners, all the stars are depicted, with the designation for each of them in three verses of its forces and movements.
On the inside of the wall of the first circle are depicted all the mathematical figures, of which there are much more than those discovered by Archimedes and Euclid. Their size is in accordance with the size of the walls, and each of them is equipped with a suitable explanatory inscription in one verse: there are definitions, theorems, etc. On the outer bend of the wall there is, first of all, a large image of the entire earth as a whole; it is followed by special pictures of all kinds of regions, with brief descriptions in prose of the customs, laws, morals, origin and strength of their inhabitants; also the alphabets used in all these areas are inscribed here above the alphabet of the City of the Sun.
On the inside of the wall of the second circle, or second row of buildings, you can see both images and real pieces of precious and simple stones of all kinds, minerals and metals, with explanations for each in two verses. On the outside are depicted the seas, rivers, lakes and springs that exist in the world; as well as wines, oils and all liquids; their origin, qualities and properties are indicated; and on the ledges of the wall there are vessels filled with liquids, aged from one hundred to three hundred years, for the treatment of various ailments. There, with corresponding verses, there are also authentic images of hail, snow, thunderstorms and all aerial phenomena.
On the inside of the wall of the third circle all kinds of trees and herbs are painted, and some of them grow there in pots on the ledges of the outer wall of the buildings; they are provided with explanations of where they were first found, what their powers and qualities are, and how they are similar to celestial phenomena, among metals, in the human body and in the sea region; what is their use in medicine, etc. On the outside are all kinds of river, lake and sea fish, their habits and characteristics, methods of reproduction, life, breeding, what benefit they have to the world and us, as well as their similarities with objects heavenly and earthly, created by nature or artificially; so that I was completely amazed to see the bishop's fish, the chain fish, the shell, the nail, the star, the male member, exactly corresponding in appearance to the objects that exist among us. There you can see sea urchins, snails, oysters, etc. And everything worthy of study is presented there in amazing images and provided with explanatory inscriptions.
On the inside of the fourth circle are depicted all sorts of bird breeds, their qualities, sizes, customs, colors, lifestyle, etc. And they consider the Phoenix to be a truly existing bird. On the outside you can see all types of reptiles: snakes, dragons, worms; and insects: flies, mosquitoes, horseflies, beetles, etc., indicating their characteristics, toxicity properties, methods of application, etc. And there are much more of them there than you can even imagine. On the inner side of the wall of the fifth circle are the highest terrestrial animals, the number of species of which is simply amazing: we do not know even a thousandth of them. And there are so many of them and such are their sizes that they are depicted on the outside of the circular wall. There are so many horse breeds alone, what beautiful images they are, and how sensibly it is all explained! On the inside of the wall of the sixth circle all crafts with their tools and their use among various peoples are depicted. They are arranged according to their meaning and provided with explanations. Their inventors are also depicted here. On the outside are all the inventors of science, weapons and legislators. I saw there Moses, Osiris, Jupiter, Mercury, Lycurgus, Pompilius, Pythagoras, Zamolxius, Solon and many others; They also have an image of Mohammed, whom, however, they despise as an absurd and insignificant legislator. But in the most honorable place I saw the image of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles, whom they deeply honor and extol, considering them to be supermen. I saw Caesar, Alexander, Pyrrhus, Hannibal and other illustrious men, famous in war and in peaceful affairs, mainly the Romans, whose images are on the lower part of the walls, under the porticoes. When I began to ask in amazement how they knew our history, they explained to me that they have knowledge of all languages and constantly send special scouts and ambassadors around the world to familiarize themselves with the customs, forces, mode of government and history of individual peoples and everything that They have good and bad, and then report it to their republic; and all this occupies them extremely. I also learned there that the Chinese had invented bombards and printing books even before us. For all these images there are mentors, and children easily and as if playfully become familiar with all the sciences in a visual way before reaching the age of ten.
The control of Love is, firstly, childbearing and ensuring that the combination of men and women produces the best offspring. And they scoff at the fact that we, while diligently caring about improving the breeds of dogs and horses, at the same time neglect the human breed. The same ruler is in charge of raising newborns, healing, making medicines, sowing, harvesting and collecting fruits, agriculture, cattle breeding, food and in general everything related to food, clothing and sexual intercourse. He has at his disposal a number of mentors and mentors assigned to monitor all these matters. The metaphysician observes all this through the three rulers mentioned, and nothing happens without his knowledge. All the affairs of their republic are discussed by these four persons, and the opinion of the Metaphysician is joined in mutual agreement by all the others.
Gostinnik
But tell me, please: all these positions, institutions, duties, education, way of life - what is it: a republic, a monarchy or an aristocracy?
Sailor
This people came from India, having fled from there after the defeat by the Mongols and the rapists who devastated their native country, and decided to lead a philosophical way of life as a community. And although the community of wives has not been established among the rest of the population living in their region, it is accepted among themselves on the basis that they have everything in common. The distribution of everything is in the hands of officials; but since knowledge, honors and pleasures are the common property, no one can appropriate anything for himself.
They claim that property is formed among us and is maintained by the fact that we each have our own separate dwellings and our own wives and children. This is where selfishness arises, because in order to achieve wealth and an honorable position for our son and leave him as the heir to a large fortune, each of us either begins to rob the state, if he is not afraid of anything, being rich and noble, or he becomes a miser, a traitor and a hypocrite when he lacks power, fortune and nobility. But when we renounce selfishness, we are left only with love for the community.
Gostinnik
So, after all, no one will want to work if he expects to live off the work of others, which is what Aristotle refutes Plato.
Sailor
I am a bad debater, but nevertheless I assure you that they burn with such love for their homeland that it is difficult to imagine; much more even than the Romans - who, as is known from legend, voluntarily died for the fatherland - because they significantly surpassed them in renunciation of property. I, at least, am sure that our brothers, and monks, and clergy, if they had not been tempted by love for family and friends, would have become much more holy, would have been less attached to property and would have breathed more love for their neighbors.
Gostinnik
But can anyone have such learning? And, it seems to me, those who devote themselves to science are not capable of governing.
Sailor
I objected to them the same thing.
They answered me: “We undoubtedly know better that such an educated man will be wise in the matter of government than you, who appoint ignorant people as heads of the government, considering them suitable for this only because they either belong to a ruling family, or elected by the dominant party. And our 0 , even if he is completely inexperienced in the affairs of government, he will never, however, be either cruel, or a criminal, or a tyrant precisely because he is so wise. But, in addition, let it be known to you that your argument is valid in relation to you, since you consider those who know the grammar or logic of Aristotle or any other author better to be the most learned. For this kind of wisdom, only slavish memory and labor are required, from which a person becomes inert, because he studies not the subject itself, but only book words, and humiliates the soul by studying the dead signs of things, and because of this does not understand how God rules over existing things, not over the morals and customs that exist in nature and among individual peoples. But nothing like this can happen to ours, for no one is able to study so many arts and sciences without possessing exceptional abilities for everything, and therefore, to the highest degree, for government. We also know very well that anyone who studies only one science does not know it properly, nor the others. And anyone who is capable of only one science, gleaned from books, is ignorant and inert. But this does not happen with flexible minds, receptive to all kinds of activities and naturally capable of comprehending things, which ours necessarily and should be. 0 . In addition, as you see, in our city knowledge is acquired with such ease that students achieve greater success in one year than yours in ten or fifteen years. Please test this on our children.”
I was completely amazed both by the justice of their reasoning and by the test of those children who understood my native language well. The fact is that every three of them must know either our language, or Arabic, or Polish, or one of the other languages. And they do not recognize any other rest, except that during which they acquire even more knowledge, for which they go to the field - to run, throw arrows and spears, shoot from arquebuses, hunt wild animals, recognize grass and stones, etc. . and learn agriculture and cattle breeding as part of one or another detachment.
The three co-rulers of the Sun are supposed to study only those sciences that relate to their area of government: they become acquainted with others, common to all, only by visual means, but they know theirs perfectly and, naturally, better than anyone else. Thus, Might perfectly knows cavalry, the formation of an army, the organization of a camp, the manufacture of all kinds of weapons, military vehicles, military tricks and all military affairs in general. But, in addition, these rulers must certainly be philosophers, historians, politicians, and physicists.
Gostinnik
Now I would like you to talk about their institutions - in detail about each - and explain better their public education.
Sailor
They have houses, bedrooms, beds and everything else they need in common. But every six months, the bosses appoint who will sleep in which circle and who will sleep in the first bedroom and who in the second: each of them is designated by letters on the ceiling. Activities in abstract sciences and crafts are common to both men and women, with only one difference - the most difficult crafts and country work are performed by men: plowing, sowing, picking fruits, threshing and even picking grapes. But women are usually appointed to milk the sheep and make the cheese; in the same way, they go out not far beyond the city limits to collect herbs and work in gardens. And female labor includes those jobs that are performed sitting or standing: for example, weaving, spinning, sewing, cutting hair and beards, making medicines and all kinds of clothing. However, women are not used for carpentry, blacksmithing and tool making. But they are allowed to paint if they show an ability for it. As for music, it is done exclusively by women, because they make it more enjoyable, and by children, but they do not play trumpets and drums. They cook and set the table; but serving at table is the duty of boys and girls up to twenty years of age. Each circle has its own kitchens, shops, pantries for dishes, food supplies and drinks. To monitor the fulfillment of all duties in this regard, a venerable old man and an old woman were assigned, who manage the servants and have the power to beat or order to beat the careless and disobedient; and at the same time they notice and distinguish boys and girls who perform certain duties better than others. All the youth serve the elders, who are over forty years old. Both in the evening, when going to bed, and in the morning, the boss and the boss send one of the young men in turn to serve in each separate bedroom. Young people serve each other themselves, and woe to those who shirk!
Their tables are placed in two rows, with seats on both sides; Women sit on one side, men on the other, and, as in monastery refectories, there is no noise there. While eating, one of the young men reads from a book in a chanting voice, clearly and sonorously, from a raised platform, and the officials often converse about some remarkable passage from what they have read. And, truly, it is pleasant to see how deftly such beautiful young people in belted clothes serve them, and to see how so many friends, brothers, sons, fathers and mothers live together in such sedateness, decorum and love. Everyone gets their own napkin, bowl, stew and food. It is the responsibility of the doctors to order the cooks food for every day: what to cook for the old people, what for the young, and what for the sick. Officials receive larger and better portions, and from their portions they always give something to the table for children who have shown more diligence in the morning at lectures, in scientific conversations and in military training. And this is considered one of the greatest honors. And on holidays they love to sing at the table; they sing either in several voices, or one person sings to the accompaniment of a lute, etc. And since everyone equally takes part in the household, there is never any shortage of anything. Respectable elderly people supervise the kitchen and the servants in the dining room and carefully monitor the cleanliness of beds, dishes, clothing, workshops and storerooms.
Their clothing consists of a white undershirt, and on top of it a dress, which is both a camisole and trousers, sewn without folds, with slits from the shoulders to the shin and from the navel to the butt between the thighs. On one side of these slits there are loops, and on the other there are buttons with which they are fastened. The pants end with ties at the ankles; then they wear high gaiters, like boot tops, with clasps and shoes on top of them. And finally, as we said, they throw on a cloak. And the dress fits them so well and deftly that when they take off their cloak, their whole figure is outlined in every detail. They change clothes four times a year: when the Sun enters the signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn; The distribution of clothing in accordance with the conditions of need is in charge of doctors and clothing keepers of individual circles. And it’s amazing how much they have at the same time of all the necessary clothes, thick or light, depending on the time of year. They wear white clothes, and they are washed monthly with lye or soap. The lower rooms are occupied by workshops, kitchens, storerooms, shops, armories, canteens and soap houses. However, they wash near the columns of the galleries, and the water flows down gutters leading into the gutters. Each area of the individual circles has its own fountains, where water is supplied through pipes from the depths of the mountain solely by the action of a skillfully constructed tap. They have spring water and reservoirs that are filled with rainwater that accumulates on the roofs and flows down aqueducts with sand. They also often wash their bodies as directed by the doctor and their boss. They practice all crafts below, under the colonnades, and abstract sciences - above, on the balconies and galleries, where the corresponding paintings are located; and sacred sciences are studied in the temple. At the entrances to the houses and on the battlements of the circular walls there are sundials with bells and flags showing the time and direction of the wind.
Gostinnik
Tell me about childbirth.
Sailor
No woman can have intercourse with a man before she is nineteen years of age; and men are not assigned to the production of offspring until twenty-one years of age, or even later if they are of weak constitution. True, others are allowed to marry women even before reaching this age, but only with infertile women or with pregnant women, so as not to lead anyone to forbidden perversions. Elderly bosses and bosses take care of satisfying the sexual needs of those who are more lustful and easily aroused, learning about this either through their secret requests, or by observing them during classes in the palaestra. However, permission comes from the main boss of childbirth - an experienced doctor subordinate to the ruler of Love. Those caught committing sodomy are reprimanded and forced to wear shoes hung around their necks for two days as a punishment as a sign that they have perverted the natural order by turning it upside down. In case of repeated crime, the punishment increases up to the death penalty. Those who abstain from copulation until they are twenty-one, and even more so until they are twenty-seven, are given special honor and praised at public gatherings. When everyone, both men and women, is naked during classes in the palaestra, according to the custom of the ancient Spartans, then the leaders determine who is capable and who is incapable of copulation, and which men and women are more suitable for each other in the structure of their bodies; and then, and only after a thorough ablution, they are allowed to have sexual intercourse every third night. Stately and beautiful women are united only with stately and strong men; the fat ones with the thin ones, and the thin ones with the fat ones, so that they balance each other well and usefully. In the evening the boys come and make their beds, and then they are taken to bed according to the orders of the boss and mistress. They begin to copulate only after digesting the food and praying to God in heaven. In the bedrooms there are beautiful statues of famous husbands, which women contemplate, and then, looking out the windows at the sky, they pray to God to grant them worthy offspring. They sleep in separate rooms until the hour of copulation. Then the boss gets up and opens both doors from the outside. This hour is determined by an astrologer and a doctor, who try to catch the time when Venus and Mercury are to the east of the Sun in a favorable House, in a good aspect of Jupiter, as well as Saturn and Mars, or outside their aspects. This is especially important for the Sun and Moon, which are most often aphets. They love Virgo in the horoscope, but are carefully careful that there are no malefic planets in the corner, because they infect in square and opposite aspect all the angles on which the root of the vital force depends in accordance with the harmony of the universe as a whole and in its parts. They seek not so much companionship as good aspects. They take care of the accompaniment when laying the foundation of the city and establishing the law, with the condition, however, that neither Mars nor Saturn predominates, except in the case of their best location. They also take into account the location of the fixed stars.
They consider it unacceptable if the parents, less than three days before copulation, stained themselves with seed and did not behave impeccably, did not reconcile with the highest God and are not devoted to him. As for those who have intercourse with barren women, or with pregnant women, or with despised women for pleasure, or for necessity, for health, or because of their passion, they do not observe these rules. Officials, who are all at the same time priests, as well as scientific mentors, can be producers only if many conditions are observed over a number of days, because from intense mental activities their vitality weakens, and their brain does not exude courage , because they constantly think about something, and because of this they produce skinny offspring. And they try in every possible way to avoid this, and therefore they combine such scientists with lively, lively and beautiful women. People are sharp, fast, restless and frantic - with women who are plump and of a meek disposition. And they maintain that the perfect constitution by which virtues are developed cannot be achieved by exercise; that people who are vicious by nature work well only out of fear of the law or of God, and without this, they secretly or openly destroy the state. Therefore, all main attention should be focused on childbirth, and the natural qualities of producers should be valued, and not the dowry and deceptive nobility of the family. If a woman does not bear fruit from one man, she is married to another; if even here she turns out to be barren, then she goes into general use, but no longer enjoys honor as a matron, neither in the Childbirth Council, nor in the temple, nor at the table. This is done with the aim that no one would prevent pregnancy for the sake of voluptuousness. Those who bear it do not engage in physical work for two weeks. After this, they move on to quiet activities to strengthen the fetus and to bring food to it, and then strengthen themselves, moving little by little to more intense work. They are allowed to eat only healthy food, as prescribed by doctors. When they give birth, they feed themselves and raise newborns in special common rooms; They breastfeed for two years or more, depending on the prescription of the Physicist. The breastfed baby is placed in the care of the bosses if it is a girl, or the bosses if it is a boy. And here, together with other children, they playfully study the alphabet, look at pictures, run, walk and wrestle; learn about history and languages from pictures. They dress them in beautiful colorful dresses. In the eighth year they move on to the natural sciences, and then to the rest, at the discretion of the authorities, and then to crafts. Less capable children are sent to the village, but some of them, who are more successful, are accepted back into the city. But in most cases, having been born under the same arrangement of stars, peers are similar in abilities, disposition, and appearance, which results in great harmony in the state, supported by constant mutual love and help to each other. Their names are not given by chance, but are determined by the Metaphysician in accordance with the characteristics of each, as was the custom among the ancient Romans. Therefore, one is called “Beautiful”, another is called “Nosy”, that one is “Thick-legged”, this one is “Fierce”, another is called “Thin”, etc. And if someone distinguishes himself in his skill or becomes famous for some feat in war or in peacetime, then an appropriate nickname is added to the name or in accordance with skill, for example: “Beautiful Great Painter”, “Golden”, “Excellent”, “Agile”; or by exploits, for example: “Nosed Brave”, “Cunning”, “Great, or Greatest Winner”, or even by the name of the defeated enemy, like: “African”, “Asian”, “Tuscan”; or if someone defeated Manfred or Tortelius, then he is called: “Thin Manfredius”, “Tortelius”, etc. These nicknames are given by the highest authorities and are often accompanied by the laying of wreaths, according to the feat, skill, etc., to the sounds of music. For they value gold and silver only as material for utensils or for decorations common to all.
Subsequent theorists of early socialism were strongly influenced by “Utopia,” including new ideas about state and law. The further spread of utopian socialism in Europe is associated with the name of Giovanni Domenico Campanella, the author of “City of the Sun,” a famous Italian philosopher, sociologist and writer. He was born in 1568 in the south of Italy, in Calabria, which was under the yoke of the Spanish crown. At the age of fifteen, against the will of his father, who dreamed of seeing him become a certified lawyer, he took monastic vows into a Dominican monastery under the name Tommaso. Persistent studies in philosophy and theology and the study of the works of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas begin. On the shelves of monastery libraries he finds the works of Democritus and Plato and interprets them in his own way. His greatest interest was aroused by the philosophy of the Italian Bernardino Telesio, a fierce opponent of Aristotle's scholasticism, whose works were included by the Catholic Church in the list of prohibited books. Campanella openly defends the ideas of Telesio and publishes philosophical works. Such insolence could not go unpunished, and the Inquisition became interested in Campanella. He showed himself as an opponent of the Reformation and a supporter of both the ecclesiastical and secular authority of the pope; the Inquisition turned a blind eye to many of his sins. Campanella was seriously involved in astrology, which played a significant role in his life and work. In 1597, he returned to his homeland and, based on the position of the stars, predicted a victorious uprising against the power of the Spanish Habsburgs. However, indignation at the tyranny of foreigners then gripped all layers of Calabria, and Campanella led a conspiracy, which was joined by nobles, monks, peasants, and robbers. But the Spaniards were warned, and the top of the conspiracy was captured. Campanella also ended up in a Neapolitan prison. He was saved from a death sentence only by being declared a heretic. In 1602, Campanella was sentenced to life imprisonment, and he spent over twenty-seven years in various prisons. Utopia “City of the Sun, or the Ideal Republic. Poetical Dialogue” was written in Latin in prison in 1602, and published for the first time in 1623. And this utopia bears the imprint of its time, its torment and problems. On the dark horizon of the dramatic life of contemporary Italy, the State of the Sun appears as a bright vision. Somewhere in the Indian Ocean, in some unknown land, there rises a mountain on which a beautiful radiant city is built. Its walls are decorated with wonderful and instructive paintings, the buildings are light and spacious. The cherished dreams of human happiness came true there, because there is no private property and everything is built on the basis of the natural laws of nature. Campanella believed that in a society based on common property the state would remain. It depicts a completely new organization of state power, which has no parallel in history. The City of the Sun is a theocratic republic, organized along the lines of a monastic Order and vaguely reminiscent of the state of the ancient Incas. It is headed by the wisest and all-knowing high priest the Sun (aka Metaphysician), to whom three co-rulers are subordinate: Power, in charge of military affairs, Wisdom - knowledge, sciences, and Love - food, clothing, childbirth and education. They elect lower officials, bearers of true knowledge, despising scholasticism - “dead signs of things.” In the City of the Sun, a general meeting of all solariums who have reached 20 years of age is convened twice a lunar month. At the Great Council, everyone is invited to speak out about what shortcomings there are in the state. All important issues in the life of the state are discussed at the Great Council. Campanella's thoughts on ways to combine democracy and rule by scientific specialists are very original. Candidates for a particular post are proposed by teachers, senior foremen, squad leaders and other officials who know which of the solarium workers is more suitable for which position. In the Great Council, everyone can speak for or against election. The decision on appointment to a position is made by a panel of officials. The officials, in turn, are assisted by advice from the so-called priests, who determine the days of sowing and harvest, keep records, and engage in scientific research. In this state there is law, justice, and punishment. The laws are few, short and clear. The text of the laws is carved on the pillars at the doors of the temple where justice is administered. Tanning salons argue with each other almost exclusively on matters of honor. This process is public, oral, and fast. Five witnesses are required to convict a crime. Torture and judicial duels, characteristic of the feudal process, are not allowed. Punishments are given according to justice and according to the crime. The source of human evil is selfishness. The author sees the possibility of its eradication when all members of society are equal in all respects. Common dining rooms, identical clothes, common jewelry, common houses, bedrooms and beds... And if everything is common, then there must be common husbands and wives, common children. With incredible meticulousness, Campanella describes childbirth and sexual relations and reveals an almost undisguised contempt for paired love. For him, she is more acceptable fun than a serious feeling. Women of the City of the Sun have the same rights as men; they can engage in science and anything else. They are only exempted from heavy forms of labor. The “community of wives” corresponds to the “community of husbands” on the basis of mutual equality. In the “City of the Sun” there is a difference in economic and social existence compared to “Utopia”. The working day is reduced to four hours, and yet abundance is evident, for labor, as Campanella realizes for the first time in the history of human thought, is the first need of man. Campanella is interested in the problem of identifying human abilities, although he solves it in a fantastic-astrological spirit: natural inclinations must be unraveled through the same horoscope. Campanella places the moral regulation of public life on religion, but he does not rely on religion for everything. He developed a number of legal and moral sanctions of a non-religious nature, sometimes very cruel, directed against idleness and debauchery. And he, unlike More, shows the inhabitants of his state capable of taking up arms not only to protect themselves from external attacks. Killing a tyrant is an honor. To expel a quarrelsome and insignificant monarch is humane. Campanella writes about painful issues. He draws an ideal society, from his point of view, where everyone works and there are no “idle scoundrels and parasites.” During his 27 years of imprisonment, he thought for a long time about inequality and the best form of government. Having comprehended the reality around him, he came to only one conclusion: the existing political system is unjust. For people to live better, it must be replaced by another, more perfect system. Where all people are equal.
UTOPIA OF THOMAS CAMPANELLA "CITY OF THE SUN"
Danilova E., 212 gr. (2005-2006)
The Italian philosopher Tommaso Campanella (before becoming a monk in 1582 - Giovanni Domenico) is one of the representatives of early utopian communism. Campanella shared the natural philosophical views of the materialist Telesio, opposed Aristotelian scholasticism, developed the ideas of sensationalism, advanced for that time, where sensation was the only source of knowledge, and deism (the world was created by God, and then the world was left to the action of its own laws), which, however, were combined with him with religious and mystical views, a passion for magic and astrology.
For his freethinking, Campanella was repeatedly persecuted by the Inquisition. So, in 1599, Tommaso tried to raise an uprising in order to free Italy from Spanish oppression. The plot was discovered, and Campanella, after severe torture, was thrown into prison, where he spent a total of 27 years. Constant work and self-discipline, the daily tension of creative thought helped Tommaso survive.
Like Thomas More, Tommaso Campanella was busy speculatively constructing an ideal social system. The result of his thoughts was the utopia “City of the Sun,” which the philosopher wrote in prison in 1602 and published for the first time in 1623. We know that a utopia is an impossible dream, generated by historical circumstances that prompted action and led to certain results. Tommaso was a progressive thinker and writer of the Renaissance, a time when Western Europe, shaken by anti-feudal movements, entered the stage of the initial development of capitalism, when technology and science energetically moved forward along their never-ending path, when thought stubbornly overtook reality in search of new horizons. In the life of Italy in the 17th century, after successes in the field of manufacturing, a time of decline began. The displacement of the main trade routes, which was associated with the dominance of the Turks in the Mediterranean and the Great Geographical Discoveries, and the severe economic crisis were one of the reasons that thousands of people did not know where to put their hands. The peasantry suffered from barbaric forms of feudal exploitation and from foreign domination. At the same time, in Italy of that period, economically disunited and politically fragmented, a revolutionary situation could not arise. Under these conditions, utopianism, as a dream of resolving such a disastrous situation for the country, was essentially inevitable.
It is worth adding that not only under the influence of external factors, but also depending on the author’s worldview, different utopias often express opposing social ideals and aspirations, while the fantastic nature of this genre implies a colossal range of possibilities. The ideas of utopias represent an organic unity of image and thought, a thought that is not so much proven as shown, subject to the emotional and aesthetic perception and assessment of the philosopher.
“City of the Sun” was created under the influence of “Utopia” by Thomas More, which Campanella first heard about in the house of the wealthy Neapolitan del Tufo, who supported the writer in difficult times. On the pages of the work, Campanella dreams of the unity and prosperity of humanity, of an ideal society in which there is no private property, and universal labor guarantees abundance. True, there is strict regulation of everyday life and the power of priests, which is literally theocratic in nature. Tommaso based his communist ideal on the dictates of reason and the laws of nature.
“City of the Sun” is written in the form of a dialogue between the Sailor, who returned from a long voyage, and Gostinnik. The interlocutors are deprived of external description, but at the same time, from the idea of the city of the Sun, the characters’ views on life, their thoughts that are trying to penetrate into the foggy future are clear. All means of depiction and presentation are subordinated in utopia to the creation of a grandiose picture of society as a single collective, an image of the dream of a just life based on labor, which is where the social character of the author is manifested. The sailor tells Gostinnik about his trip around the world, during which he ended up in the Indian Ocean on a wonderful island with the city of the Sun.
This city is located on a mountain and is “divided into seven vast belts, or circles, called after the seven planets.” In each of the zones there are comfortable premises for living, working, and relaxing. There are also defensive structures: ramparts, bastions. Campanella says that “...to capture each subsequent (belt), one would have to constantly use twice as much effort and labor.” At the same time, the walls of the city are decorated with wonderful and at the same time instructive paintings, which are provided with explanatory inscriptions.
By structure, the City of the Sun is a theocratic republic, organized on the model of a monastic order. At its head is the wisest and all-knowing high priest, “called the “Sun” in their language, but in ours we would call him the Metaphysician.” According to the Sailor, the ruler has three so-called co-rulers: Pon (Power), in charge of military affairs, Sin (Wisdom) - knowledge, liberal arts, crafts, and Mor (Love) - food, clothing, childbirth and education.
The meaning of the symbolism of the names allows us to reveal Campanella’s pantheism, according to which God is an impersonal principle, located not outside of nature, but identical with it. As a result, the basic qualities of being (“primalities”) determine the characteristic properties of a person: power is found in strength, wisdom in the ability to imagine and imagine, love in desires and aspirations. Primalities are in a constant struggle with non-existence: with weakness, ignorance and hatred - as negative human qualities. Elements of dialectics in Campanella's philosophy serve as a justification for fruitful violence in public life. According to the philosopher, evil must not only be identified, but also suppressed. Thus, to kill a tyrant in the city of the Sun is honorable, to expel an absurd and insignificant monarch is humane. Campanella believes that “first everything is uprooted and eradicated, and then it is created...”. Thus, Tommaso is ready to lead the people into battle to realize the ideals of equality.
It should be noted that the top of the city of the Sun elects lower officials, bearers of true knowledge, despising scholasticism. The government meets every eight days. Unscrupulous leaders can be removed by the will of the people, except for the four highest rulers, who resign themselves. They first consult with each other and only when a wiser and more worthy person can replace them do they resign. It must be emphasized that in the city of the Sun, as Campanella writes, “he is revered as the most worthy who has studied the most arts and crafts and who knows how to apply them with greater knowledge.” Residents of the City of the Sun are perplexed why “we call masters ignoble, but consider noble those who are not familiar with any skill, live idlely and keep many servants for their debauchery.”
According to the philosopher, the source of all human evils is selfishness. Tommaso believes that when people give up selfishness, they will only have love for the community, which he considers the standard of government. Thus, only equalization of members of society in literally all respects (common dining rooms, identical decorations, common houses) will lead to a happy life. The writer repeatedly repeats that if people were “less attached to property,” then they would “breathe with greater love for their neighbor.” The inhabitants are both rich and poor. Rich because they have everything they need, poor because they have nothing of their own. Public property in a “sunny” state is based on the labor of its citizens. Campanella's critique of private ownership points the way for future progressive literature.
In the state of Tommaso Campanella, equality between men and women is established, who even undergo military training in case of war. According to Tommaso, work and physical exercise will make people healthy and beautiful. For the first time in the history of human thought, the author says that work is not only a human need, but also a matter of his honor, a matter in which competition ultimately generates abundance. But at the same time, the working day of solariums lasts only four hours. In addition, Campanella is very interested in the problem of identifying human abilities, although he solves it in a fantastic-astrological spirit: natural inclinations must be unraveled through the same horoscope.
The issue of marriage relations is quite sensitive. Campanella assumed some kind of state regulation of them, neglecting the personal attachments of a person. For a philosopher, the first place is the question of the quality of future offspring. In order for children to be physically and spiritually perfect, an experienced doctor, using scientific data, selects the best compatible parents based on their natural qualities. The author of the utopia reveals an almost undisguised contempt for paired love. For him, it is more acceptable fun than a serious feeling, and cannot even be compared with “love for the community.”
Despite the fact that the women of the City of the Sun have the same rights as men (they can engage in science and serve in the army), due to the principle of “community of wives” they are still perceived as dehumanized property. Campanella depicts a kind of familyless communism (the influence of the worst of Plato’s ideas).
Tommaso’s reasoning about the beauty of women is interesting: in the city of the Sun there are no ugly women, since “thanks to their activities, healthy skin color is formed (in women), and the body develops, and they become stately and lively, and beauty is revered in their harmony and liveliness and vigor. Therefore, they would subject to the death penalty the one who, out of a desire to be beautiful, began to blush her face, or began to wear high-heeled shoes to appear taller, or a long dress to hide her oaky legs.” Campanella claims that all the whims of women arose as a result of idleness and lazy effeminacy.
Campanella places the moral regulation of social life, relatively speaking, on religion, since the cult of the Sun and the Earth, the pantheistic idea of the world as a huge living being does not fit into the framework of religious dogmatics. Tommaso does not rely on religion for everything; he has developed a number of legal and moral sanctions of a non-religious nature, sometimes very cruel, directed against idle people and depraved individuals.
Until the end of his life, Tommaso, like the heroes of utopia, firmly believed that a time would come in the world when people would live according to the customs of the state created by his dream. In his letter to Ferdinand III, Duke of Tuscany, Campanella wrote: “Future centuries will judge us, for the present century executes its benefactors...”.
So, “City of the Sun” is a political and scientific work, in which both philosophical and aesthetic approaches to solving the problem of an ideal state merge together. Unfortunately, Campanella’s utopia was declared, according to a long tradition, to be an example of “crude” Latin and, therefore, is assessed as a fact of philosophical and political, but by no means artistic life, with which one can disagree.
