On Crimes and Punishments in the Utopias of Sixteenth Century

Abstract

The goal of this study is to analyse the crimes and punishments in the utopian literature of the sixteenth century. Initialy, it is necessary to desconstruct the idea that utopia is a platonizing archaism. As the political writings of Machiavelli, the utopian literature is an attempt to intervene in legal and social issues of their time. It must also refute the argument that utopia is a disciplinary society, an ancestor of modern totalitarian regimes. Authors such as Morus and Rabelais have become seasoned defenders of the freedoms of civil society against arbitrary interference of State power. But it is also necessary to question the myth that utopia would be a model of stateless community. Morus, Campanella and Shakespeare recognize the importance of criminal sanctions for the preservation of political order.

Keywords

• Literatura utópica, Direito penal, Século XVI