Anthony Casimini September 28, 2015 Moral Foundations St Thomas More This paper is about the life and values of Thomas More. I will explain why he is considered a saint and a martyr. His life consisted of being an upstanding citizen and a morally devout Christian. As a man who possessed an insurmountable number of virtues, I will reflect on three virtues that I believe Thomas More possessed. The virtues are justice, loyalty, and integrity. I will also incorporate my reflections of Man of all Seasons, as well as James Monti’s biography of Thomas More. “The Kings good servant but God’s first”, this is a broad but direct statement summarizing Thomas More’s life. Thomas More was a master in many professions including a writer, a poet, a musician,
In Martin Luther’s Freedom of a Christian Man, Luther describes what he believes should be the relationship between faith and good works in the life of Christian people. His beliefs became integral to the Protestant and Lutheran ideologies. The basis of Luther’s pamphlet was “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” (31) This central thought provides readers dialogue on what is truly a selfless, act and if these acts do in fact have an effect on one’s
...and, “I don’t believe this had to happen”(144). At least twice Sir Thomas More made poor choices and put himself into bad situations in the play, which ultimately took him closer and closer to his death.
Thomas More sees physical labor as very important. Not only to survive, but so that everyone contributes to society. Idleness can be a disease. There must be a balance to work. Everybody in Utopia does some farming. Farming was considered a ver...
Sir Thomas More, “The History of King Richard III” in Richard III A Source Book, Keith
How I will use it: The first quote indicates that More will not follow others blindly and betray his conscience nor God because they are his “self”, not someone else’s. The second quote implies that if a water spaniel feared going into the water, it would be pointless for it to continue living since water spaniels were supposed to love being in water. More used this to compare with his conscience. He felt that if he could not stay true to “his own self” or his conscience, there was also no point for him to continue living since his conscience was an integral part of him.
Sir Thomas Cromwell and Richard Rich’s moral stature do not come close to More’s reputation at anytime. All of the characteristics clearly display that More’s moral stature is no way comparable to Rich’s or Master Cromwell’s.
Although Thomas More was among the most famous English humanists, Wilcox writes in In Search of God and Self that he did not hold humanism as the center of most of his writings, staying with medieval themes of religion. To this Thomas More might respond that a deep devotion to the Christian religion and a belief in the need for reform coupled with a humanistic perspective were at the heart of his writings. This would place More at the center of Northern humanists who believed that a classical education, especially including the original writings of the early Church fathers, would lead to a more deeply pious, spiritual person and a better society. While Italian humanists focused on the individual person, More focused on the betterment of
Thomas More deals with a lot of pressures and stress that come from his family and friends.
Butler, Joseph. 7Five Sermons, Preached at the Rolls Chapel and A Dissertation upon the Nature of Virtue. Ed. Stephen L. Darwall. Indianapolis, IN: 6Hackett Pub., 1983. Print.
When More died it sent a message to the public that the Kin was wrong in what he was doing. As More died in front of a lot of people, it certainly showed to the public that it was honorable and he put his point across in the clear way. “….but because I would not bend to the marriage” (pg. 78) More is simply stating that he wouldn’t agree with the King for the clear intention of staying alive.
Thomas More was a humble and faithful man who held firmly onto his beliefs. His unshakable faith is of great acclaim. The fact that one would voluntarily die for their beliefs is a beautiful thing. Why do you think we honor and respect our fallen veterans? For the same exact reason as St. Thomas More, because they died for our country and all that it stands for. St. Thomas More died for his faith and all that it stands for, so therefore he is a martyr. The fact that he died for his faith and its set of beliefs is a quality that I find most admirable.
Thomas Aquinas is known for being one of the most influential moral philosophers of natural l...
Sir Thomas More was a character who was faced with a number of difficult choices. The major one being, when Henry VIII's first wife was unable to produce an heir to the throne, he used that as an excuse for the pope to grant him a divorce, so he could marry a new wife. The King is backed by everyone on this request except the highly regarded and religious Sir Thomas More. When the old Chancellor of England, named More his successor, it became important for Henry to get More's support, but More could not be swayed. He made his decision to oppose the marriage early on, but even though it was something he did not waver from, he still had trouble with it. More made a very difficult decision in opposing the King and his family, but regardless of the consequences, he felt that he was morally correct and for him to choose any other path would have been impossible for he could not oppose the church and God.
...onscience, More makes choices to preserve his morality, which ultimately lead to his death. Since More is unwilling to compromise his scruples, More brought his downfall upon himself. More’s downfall is also somewhat due to his position as Lord Chancellor. Since More is such an eminent figure, his actions against the king have prevalent effects, which only help the king target More as a traitor. Sir Thomas More lived his entire live based upon his beliefs and principles. Even though More meets death in the end of the play, More dies standing by what he believes in. By defending his faith and morals, More proves his virtue by demonstrating that nothing worldly is ever worth one’s eternal soul, thereby making More the paragon of a virtuous man.
More’s life spanned a tumultuous era under the sovereignty of Henry VIII, in which More’s satirical portrayal of Utopia indirectly critiques Henry’s contribution to the societal failings of England. This is evident in protagonist Raphael’s discourse with More, where he sarcastically comments that “There’s almost no place where you won’t find… Laestrygones and such-like horrors, but wise and well-instructed citizens you’ll scarcely find anywhere.” More uses a hyperbole to satirize the rarity of encountering citizens under adequate rule, serving as an indirect critique of Henry’s ineptitude in leading English society sufficiently. This ineptitude is embodied in the feudalist economic structure of Tudor England, one that More heavily discountenanced as it created an oligarchy, in which peasants suffered a laborious existence as a means of supporting the prodigal lifestyles of affluent nobles. This is illustrated when More emphasizes how this model emboldened England’s pernicious enclosure movement by metaphorically referring to said nobles as “a grim plague to his native land,” who “can merge fields and enclose thousands of acres within a single boundary.” This absurd metaphor creates satire as it ridicules the English aristocracy and aids More in critiquing England’s feudalist economic structure that encouraged the existence of land enclosures that enfeebled the working class. Additionally, as More was a deeply religious man, he was an indefatigable leader of the early Counter Reformation. Ironically, one of the main tenets in his satirical portrayal of Utopia is that of religious toleration, however, the deviation within this doctrine is that of the abnegation of atheistic beliefs. This is illustrated when Raphael states that “[Utopus] solemnly and strictly forbade anyone to… think that the soul dies with the body.” More uses tautology to reflect his own unyielding