Thomas More: Why Patron of Statesmen?

by J. Brian Benestad (Contribution by), Samuel Gregg (Contribution by), Carson Holloway (Contribution by), Louis Karlin (Contribution by), Jeffrey S. Lehman (Contribution by)

Overview

The year 2015 marks the fifteenth anniversary of Thomas More’s becoming Patron Saint of Statesmen and Politicians. Yet during these years no serious answer has been given by a community of scholars as to why More would be the choice of over 40,000 leaders from ninety-five countries. What were More’s guiding principles of leadership and in what ways might they remain applicable? This collection of essays addresses these questions by investigating More through his writings, his political actions, and in recent artistic depictions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498522274
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/10/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	244
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Travis Curtright is research fellow of the Center for Thomas More Studies at the University of Dallas and associate professor of humanities and literature at Ave Maria University.
Stephen W. Smith, Ph.D. is a professor of special education at the University of Florida (UF) teaching graduate courses in special education research, emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), and principles of prevention of behavior problems in education. His research focuses on effective behavioral prevention strategies, executive function, and the self-regulation of behavior (goal-directed effortful control of thought, action, emotion), issues related to aggression and violence in schools, and understanding verbal aggression of students with EBD. Dr. Smith has been Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator of 29 federal and state-funded research/development grants and is the author of 24 professional books and book chapters. Dr. Smith has presented over 200 professional papers and research findings at many state, regional, national, and international professional conferences. He has been invited to speak about educational issues in Ireland, Australia, and Taiwan. While at UF, Dr. Smith has received three teaching awards, a University Research Award, and has served twice as a UF Distinguished Research Professor. For 2013-2014, he was one of six recipients of a university-wide Doctoral Mentoring Award for outstanding work with doctoral students. He was the Irving&Rose Fein Endowed Professor from 2012-2015. Most recently, Dr. Smith was awarded the 2018 Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Education Research Association, Special Education special interest group and the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Education, University of Kansas. Dr. Smith was a Panel Scientist for the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences for six years and is on the Editorial Board of a variety of professional journals in education, special education, and psychology. Prior to receiving his Ph.D. in special education from the University of Kansas, he was a teacher of special education students for eight years.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors

Introduction: Why Patron of Statesmen (Travis Curtright)

Chapter 1: Thomas More on Liberty, Law, and Good Rule (Gerard Wegemer)

Chapter 2: Statesmanship, Tyranny, and Piety: Thomas More’s Response to Lucian’s

The Tyrannicide (Carson Holloway)

Chapter 3: Utopia’s Images of the Statesman (James R. Stoner, Jr.)

Chapter 4: Passing Strange, Yet Wholly True: On the Political Tales of Plato’s Critias

and More’s Hythlodaeus (Jeffrey S. Lehman)

Chapter 5: Thomas More’s Utopia and Catholic Social Doctrine (J. Brian Benestad)

Chapter 6: Faith, Reason, and Order: Thomas More and Natural Law (Samuel Gregg)

Chapter 7: Sir Thomas More and his Opposition to Henry VIII in 1533 (Travis Curtright)

Chapter 8: Thomas More: Patron Saint of Leading Citizens (Stephen W. Smith)

Chapter 9: What Bolt Got Right and What Mantel Got Wrong (Louis Karlin)

Chapter 10: The Place of Sir Thomas More in Political Philosophy: A Reflection on “A

Man for All Seasons.” (James V. Schall, S. J.)

Appendix: Apostolic Letter, Issued Motu Proprio, Proclaiming Saint Thomas More

Patron of Statesmen and Politicians. (Pope John Paul II.)

Bibliography

Index

About the contributors

Editorial Reviews

I appreciate the strengths of a fine volume that will benefit many different audiences.. . .The volume's illumination of More's life, writings, and historical reception deserves the attention of all scholars and teachers—Catholic and non-Catholic alike.. . .The book successfully addresses these many audiences by having a wide variety of fine essays.

Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly

One of the contributors to this book has written that “admiration draws the soul toward an example of human excellence; it is felt as a desire to be like the person admired”. This remarkable collection of essays offers a convincing and multifaceted view of Thomas More as the ideal Christian statesman. Through the study of both More’s writings and two famous works of fiction, A Man for All Seasons and Wolf Hall, this scholarly enterprise gives flesh to the gubernator in Thomas More, and validates his election as Patron of Statesmen.

Marie-Claire Phelippeau

In 2000 Pope John Paul II proclaimed St. Thomas More to be the patron of statesmen and people in public life. And yet scholarly investigations of More’s principles of statesmanship are still relatively few. In commissioning and editing this often stimulating collection of essays, Travis Curtwright seeks to fill the gap. He and his fellow contributors, several connected to the Center for Thomas More Studies at the University of Dallas, aim to revive interest in More by distilling from his writings and life experiences the very essence of this subtle, steely individual who began as a commercial lawyer and moral philosopher and ended up as Henry VIII’s only honest councilor. It is an approach that in the wrong hands could become clumsily instrumentalist and teleological. Fortunately, these contributors know the pitfalls and largely avoid them…. By writing Utopia, More created an entirely new literary genre, one that has continued to rekindle the perennially central issues of social and political thinking ever since. And for that, his statesmanship should be honored.

The Journal Of Religion

This excellent book dives deep into the mystery of Thomas More (1478-1535), lawyer, scholar, saint. It was published to commemorate Pope John Paul’s naming More the Patron of Statesmen, and examines, in particular, the grounds for that honorific. The authors included in this volume read like a who’s who of More scholarship. Their carefully crafted essays are worthy of close study and will repay the efforts of serious students as well as interested amateurs. The essays are variously focused but, taken as a whole, admirably comprehensive in exploring the words and deeds of their famous subject. What follows is but one reflection born of this magisterial work.

Interpretation