I don’t remember how this landed on my ‘to-read’, or when I downloaded a version to my Kindle. I suspect it came about somehow because some of Campanella’s ideas are seen as precursors of socialism - the idea of the dignity of all labour, or even redistribution of it (and all property) and a four hour work day for all. This despite the strong religiosity - the Christian principles and centrality of faith.

I found the imagery of all knowledge being available on the walls, as well as the worship of the sun, quite entrancing. Every moment seems to be focused on self-improvement / enhancement of life across many different spheres, which I also found attractive

The rest was quite concerning, to say the least. You’d wish that these Utopian visions would have the foresight to eliminate gendered oppression, but alas, they are still written by men, I suppose

It is also interesting to see eugenicist instincts in such an early work - an evolutionary humanist argument to strictly control reproduction to ensure the fittest society. This makes me want to understand the history of eugenics as an idea in more detail

I have to say, the way it was written was also extremely dry. I understand there is a historical context and textual norms blah blah… but that doesn’t make it untrue



[To insert quotes from Kindle]