A summary of Campanella’s “Cities of the Sun” will give you a full view of this 17th-century philosophical programmatic piece. This is a classic utopia, which has become one of the author’s most famous and significant works. The book was written in 1602, first published in 1603.
History of creation
A summary of Campanella's "Cities of the Sun" allows you to find out the main events of this book. Interestingly, its author wrote in the prison of the Inquisition after an unsuccessful uprising in Calabria in 1599. The rebels hoped to overthrow the Spaniards by establishing an ideal order, but failed.
The philosopher spent two years under investigation, he was threatened with the death penalty, but as a result of torture, which lasted almost two days, he was recognized insane. It took the author six months to recover from the consequences of torture.
Campanella himself until the age of 34 was a Dominican monk. After serving in prison, he left for France, where he spent the rest of his life.
He was a famous religious thinker and philosopher, poet. He advocated the empirical nature of science, defended the ideas of Galileo, even when he was in the prison of the Inquisition, defended the independence of science from the church.
What is this book about?
To retell the summary of Campanella’s “Cities of the Sun” is not easy, as it is not a work of art, but a philosophical one. Its name is a direct reference to the work "City of God" of St. Augustine. The text is written in a "harsh" style.
In its form, Campanella’s utopia "City of the Sun" is a dialogue between interlocutors whose names are not given. One of them is the Sailor (it is known only about him that he is from Genoa), the second is called the Main Hotel, apparently, the grandmaster of the Order of Hospitallers is implied.
If you retell the summary of Campanella's “City of the Sun” from the very beginning, the work without any preamble begins with the request of the Chief Hotelkeeper to tell the Mariner about his latest adventures.
It turns out that Sailor returned from an island in the Indian Ocean, where he ended up in the City of the Sun. He further describes how life is arranged in this city.
Government structure
Carrying out the analysis of Campanella's “City of the Sun”, we can conclude that in his work the author outlined his ideas about the ideal state. Most likely, this is exactly what he wanted to build after the uprising in Calabria, in which he took part.
The government in the City of the Sun resembles theocracy. The supreme ruler is a priest. Moreover, in the book he is called the Metaphysician, which is not accidental. At Campanella, this post was supposed to go to the most learned resident of the city. As soon as someone is wiser than him, he cedes his post.
With him there are three co-rulers, whose names can be translated as Wisdom, Power and Love. Between them the main aspects of life are divided. The metaphysician consults with them, but on all fundamental issues makes a decision on his own.
A lot of officials help them, there is also a Council, which includes all citizens over 20 years of age.
Remembering the plot of the "City of the Sun" by Tommaso Campanella, a brief summary will help you quickly refresh the main details of the work. The main social order in the City is the community of all life. Its implementation is controlled by the administration. Almost all residents have in common, except for wives, children and housing. Even all the inhabitants of the City eat together.
Moreover, production is based on universal labor service, slavery is absent. Every citizen is required to work four hours a day. Moreover, this refers only to physical labor, as it is further indicated that the rest of the time the inhabitants spend reading and doing science.
Total unification
When analyzing Tommaso Campanella's “Cities of the Sun”, one can notice that much in this society is unified. For example, women and men wear almost the same clothes, there is a prescribed form, what to wear in the city itself and what is outside. It is even indicated how often it should be washed and changed.
It is described in detail how the holidays are held, even art is regulated in the city. Under the control of the state are relations between men and women. The production of offspring is called state interest. In this case, the birth of children is compared with cattle breeding.
What man, what woman should have sex, and how often the chiefs of labor groups, the doctor and the astrologer decide. The sexual act itself is controlled by a special official. It is believed that in addition to procreation, relations between the sexes have an important function of satisfying physiological needs.
Parenting and education
The upbringing of children in this society is completely assumed by the state. During training, children are divided into units, as are adults during work.
From the age of eight, they begin to study natural sciences, then move on to crafts. Less capable go to the village, while they have a chance to return to the city if they still show themselves.
After graduation, a citizen is considered ready to receive a post. In which industry he showed himself better, mentors decide.
Penal system
In this society, in which the family, the freedom of creativity and work, property are abolished, there is a place for violations of the law. Campanella describes the punishment system in detail. Crime is malice, ingratitude, denial of due respect, despondency, laziness, buffoonery, and falsehood. In punishment, the perpetrators are deprived of communication with women or a general meal.
Sodomy is punishable by the obligation to wear shameful clothes, and in case of repeated crime the offender will face the death penalty. The judicial power in the city is combined with the administrative.
In the ideal state of Campanella, there are no executioners and warders. The death penalty is carried out by popular hands, that is, the perpetrator is stoned. In general, punishments are considered one of the elements of educating residents.
Religion
The city professes the religion of the Sun. There are two aspects to this belief. At the heart of the state religion, since the management of the City coincides with the sacred ministry.
The priests of the officials are only senior officials, who have the duty to cleanse the conscience of citizens. As a result, the administrative, judicial and religious authorities are united in the same hands.
At the same time, the religion of the sun in Campanella's presentation appears as a worship of the universe. It is perceived as the most ideal and rational mechanism that can exist. In fact, this is a combination of rationalist science and religion with a bias in astrology.
The central place in the City is occupied by the temple of the Sun. It more closely resembles not a church, but a natural science museum. On the altar there is a globe with the image of heaven and earth, on the arch of the main dome - the stars.
The funeral
It is noteworthy that in an ideal society Campanella bodies of the dead are not buried. In order to avoid pestilence and epidemics, they are burned.
At the same time, it is fire that is compared with a living and noble element, which "comes to the sun and returns to it." Thus, as the author notes, the cult of idolatry is ruled out.
In this situation, Campanella is clearly hinting at a cult worship of the relics of the saints. In his works, one often found attacks against the Catholic Church. However, he could not directly criticize the church, so he reinforced ideological objections with utilitarian sanitary arguments.
Analysis
The main ideas of Campanella in the "City of the Sun" are set forth quite clearly. This is his idea of an ideal world, an ideal society, which he sought to build. At the same time, some moments provoked rejection among contemporaries.
A few years after the release of utopia, the author even wrote another essay. In the work “On the Best State”, he analyzed the most typical expressions against social ideas set forth in his previous book.
For example, he justified the absence of private property, citing the community of apostles as an example, and, speaking of the community of wives, he referred to various church fathers. Moreover, he argued that the existence of such a state was confirmed experimentally. He cites the Anabaptists as an example. In the XVII century it was one of the most ruthless and cruel religious sects. Coming from it was the leader of the peasant war in Germany, Thomas Münzer.
In the utopia of T. Campanella, “City of the Sun”, one can feel the influence on the author of the works of Thomas More and Plato, while the work stands out for its astrological context. Interestingly, among the Communists and Social Democrats, the work again became popular in the mid-19th century.