Familiaris reprehensio quasi errantis. Raphael Hythloday, between Plato and Epicurus

Abstract

Utopia is supposed to implement Plato’s Republic, but it includes an Epicurean morality, centered upon voluptas as securitas, or the minimization of anxiety. This is profoundly anti-Platonic. The improbable combination of Plato and Epicurus compels us to question such an absurd philosophy. Perhaps, it is the parody of an absurd philosopher. Who then is Raphael Hythloday? The answer can only be: Desiderius Erasmus. It is he, not Thomas More, who mixes Epicureanism and Platonism; pleasure and commonality. Drawing on the connections between Erasmian principles and Utopian features, on the distance of Utopia from Thomas More’s other works, and on a number of textual allusions, this paper argues that, although Erasmus and Thomas More were close friends, they disagreed about politics, existential choices, and philosophical engagements. The amicable disagreement between the characters of Morus and Hythloday, matches their differences. Raphael Hythloday is a friendly parody of the author of the Encomium Moriae.