To stay on topic, it is important to note that the main difference between More and Hume does not arise simply from their religious views, even though religion plays a major role in More’s writings. Their main disagreement begins from their different understandings of human nature. For Hume, the mind begins as a collection of impressions, which come from sensory experience, and ideas, which are merely faint copies of those impressions. From this framework, it becomes clear why Hume is skeptical about both reason and morals: there is no sensory impression that directly corresponds to abstract concepts like moral truths or universal reason, so their foundations become uncertain. Now, if we apply this understanding of human nature to Utopia, it will make More’s idea, not ideal, but simply impossible, as there’s no need for most moral and reason-driven society in a world where none of them exist.
This deviation between their ideas of human nature is enough to lead them in opposite directions in social order, economic structure, and model of justice. To illustrate these differences more clearly, we can look at two of the most influential socio-economic systems in the world—socialism and capitalism—both of which were inspired and shaped, in different ways, by the ideas of More and Hume. Hume’s idea that much of human nature is derived from self-interest and passions ends with the conclusion that our system of justice and morals arises to work in our benefit, which influenced his friend Adam Smith(1723-1790), who then laid a foundation for capitalism and most of modern economics. While More’s ideas of demolishing private property and the structure of “perfect” society have had a huge influence on future founders of socialism, like Karl Marx(1818-1883).
These systems reflect how the ideas of More and Hume take shape in socio-economic forms. Even their views on private property reveal the depth of their disagreement. For More, private property is the root of greed: seeing others possess more than we do fuels envy and drives many of society’s evils. For Hume, however, private property is an essential institution; as self-interested individuals, owning property is the most natural and appropriate arrangement for social stability and human flourishing.