• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Philosophy Professor logo

PhilosophyProfessor.com

  • Philosophers
  • Philosophies

Thomas More

Thomas MoreThomas More (1478-1535).

Table of Contents

  • 1 Ideas
  • 2 Biography
  • 3 Major Works of Thomas More
    • 3.1 Related:
  • 4 Videos
  • 5 Related Products
    • 5.1 The Essential Works of Thomas More
    • 5.2 Utopia (Penguin Classics)
    • 5.3 Saint Thomas More: Selected Writings
    • 5.4 St Thomas More - A Portrait of Courage
    • 5.5 The King's Good Servant but God's First : The Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More
    • 5.6 A Thomas More Source Book
    • 5.7 Utopia
    • 5.8 Seeking More: A Catholic Lawyer's Guide Based on the Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More
    • 5.9 Thomas More
    • 5.10 Utopia (Third Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)

Ideas

– A program of education grounded on ethics, the study Greek and LAtin, and the imitation of ancient pagan and Christian writers os the soundest plan for spiritual renewal and reform of the church and society.

– Nature teaches that the best society is one whose aim is the temporal well-being or happiness of all its citizens, an aim achieved through the elimination of private property.

– The essential life and the fullness of power of any society resides in its members and no legitimate authority exists apart from the common consent of its members.

– The surest comfort in this life comes frm the knowledge that the Catholic Church’s authority, sacraments, and practices are assured by God’s promise and his continuing presence through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

– The greatest pleasure in this world is the meditation on the four last things – on how sin, death, and judgment end in the happiness of eternal life.

Biography

He was the son of John More, a prominent lawyer. As a boy he served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton. He studied at Oxford, and the Inns of Court, but did not automatically follow in his father’s footsteps. He was deeply torn between the appeal of a life of ascetic devotion and an active role in public affairs. In 1499 he determined to become a monk and subjected himself to the discipline of the Carthusians.

During his early manhood, he wrote comedies and spent much time in the study of Greek and Latin literature. One of his first works was a translation of a biography of Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494); he became a close friend with Desiderius Erasmus and he, like them, became a great humanist. More’s sense of obligation to active citizenship and statesmanship finally won out over his monastic inclinations. He entered the parliament in 1504. In 1510, he was appointed undersheriff of London.

During the next decade, More attracted the attention of King Henry VIII, and served frequently on diplomatic missions to the Low Countries. In 1518, he became a member of the Privy Council; he was knighted in 1521. Two years later, More was made Speaker of the House of Commons. As speaker of the House of Commons in 1523, More helped establish the parliamentary privilege of free speech.

He refused to endorse King Henry VIII’s plan to divorce Catherine of Aragon (1527) and marry Ann Boleyn. Nevertheless, after the fall of Thomas Wolsey in 1529, More became Lord Chancellor of England. He was the first layman to hold the post. His work in the law courts was exemplary, but he resigned in 1532, citing ill health and probably feeling that he could not in conscience serve a government that was interfering with the church. Two years later he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church of England. He was found guilty of treason, on evidence that was probably perjured. He was beheaded on July 6, 1535. More was canonized in 1935.

Major Works of Thomas More

– Utopia (1516)
– History of Richard III (1514-1518)
– Dialogue Concerning Heresies (1529)
– Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation (1534-1535)

Related:

  • Thomas Reid
  • Thomas Henry Huxley
  • Thomas Aquinas
  • Thomas Paine
  • Thomas Jefferson

  • Videos

  • Related Products

     
    The Essential Works of Thomas More

    The Essential Works of Thomas More

    • Hardcover Book
    • More, Thomas (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 1520 Pages - 01/07/2020 (Publication Date) - Yale University Press (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Utopia (Penguin Classics)

    Utopia (Penguin Classics)

    • Penguin Books
    • More, Thomas (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 176 Pages - 05/06/2003 (Publication Date) - Penguin Classics (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Saint Thomas More: Selected Writings

    Saint Thomas More: Selected Writings

    • Thomas More (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 320 Pages - 04/08/2003 (Publication Date) - Vintage (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    St Thomas More - A Portrait of Courage

    St Thomas More - A Portrait of Courage

    • History & Biography
    • Gerard B. Wegemer (Author)
    • 03/05/2021 (Publication Date) - Scepter (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    The King's Good Servant but God's First : The Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More

    The King's Good Servant but God's First : The Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More

    • Monti, James (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 497 Pages - 10/01/1997 (Publication Date) - Ignatius Press (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    A Thomas More Source Book

    A Thomas More Source Book

    • Used Book in Good Condition
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 416 Pages - 08/20/2004 (Publication Date) - The Catholic University of America Press (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Utopia

    Utopia

    • Amazon Kindle Edition
    • More, Sir Saint Thomas (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 85 Pages - 05/12/2012 (Publication Date)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Seeking More: A Catholic Lawyer's Guide Based on the Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More

    Seeking More: A Catholic Lawyer's Guide Based on the Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More

    • Hardcover Book
    • Rossi, C.T. (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 304 Pages - 11/11/2016 (Publication Date) - TAN Books (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Thomas More

    Thomas More

    • Amazon Kindle Edition
    • Marius, Richard (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 562 Pages - 02/13/2013 (Publication Date) - Knopf (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Utopia (Third Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)

    Utopia (Third Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)

    • More, Thomas (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 320 Pages - 08/31/2010 (Publication Date) - W. W. Norton & Company (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
  • Last update 2020-06-17. Price and product availability may change.

    George Santayana

    Empedocles

    Ptolemy

    Carl Gustav Hempel

    Robin George Collingwood

    • Contact
    • Facebook

    Copyright © 2021 · CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. “AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.”