J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)

M. Vida: State-Models (Utopias) and Sociology of Medicine

6 Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) change power for the benefit of the people. To obtain an acceptable theoretical support for their social ideas, the early Utopists went back either to the aristocratic communism of Plato, or to the early Christian communism of the Fathers of the Church. The idea of Augustine's work was an "invisable" church, "civitas Dei", and he regarded state as the creation of God and nature, as well as Plato, he said that the base of state was justice. He could be regarded as an ancestor of Thomas More in respect of applying historical views

—divided history to six periods

—according to the Bible and turned the attention to the developing and dinamic character of society and state. It was one thousand years after Augustine's death when philosophers's attention turned to social problems, in accordance with social conditions shown by English society. In any case the pattern was given in Plato's communistic state, later on in the mediaeval primitive communism and Augustine's "State of God". The early Utopias were combined with the popular Utopia by an interesting formal feature, namely on account of describing problems in an expressive and suggestive way. Its reasons are the few historical experiences and theoretical ideological data and the abstract theoretical justification for the necessity of a communistic society appeared only in the 18th century.

1

5 The first Utopia of the modern times was conceived among the ideas of humanist movement. More and Campanella did not examine the problems of the great masses of the people as it has been done by the Utopist socialists, but they desired to take care of the future of the whole mankind. From both sides communistic character was plainly dominating in describing a Utopian society. In their points of view the original reasons of social conflicts and misery were caused by private property and isolated families based on it. Social equality and harmony, humanistic and right order can only be possible by destroying private property, its establishments and by creating common life.

1

6 The differences between their view-points originated partly in concrete social and historical circumstances, partly in their personal life. Sir Thomas More (1478 — 1535), the great humanist statesman, Lord Chancellor of Henry VIII King of England, was an intellectual fosterbrother and friend of Erasmus

. He saw his age clearly

: the developing capitalism in England. His work "Utopia" written in 1516, after his mission to Antwerpen could be based on theoretical and practical precedents as well.

1

7/

0 Not only Plato and Augustine had given inspiration to him, but also the philosopher from Samosata, Lucianos, whose fantastic and ironic journey to the Moon, stars 1

5 Morton, A. L.t The English Utopia. London, 1952.; see Pataki, F.: Az utópista szocializmus pedagógiája. (The Pedagogy of Utopian Socialism.) Bp. 1961. 22 p. 1

6 Pataki op. cit. 28 p. 1

7I* Libellus vere aureus nec minus salutaris quam festivus de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova Insule Utopia auctore clarissimo viro Thoma Moro, etc. — Löwen 1516, Paris, 1516-1517, Basel, 1518. — The title and data of the original publication.