author
Joseph Rickaby
1845–1932
A Jesuit thinker who helped bring Thomas Aquinas to English-speaking readers, he spent decades writing about ethics, philosophy, and religion in a clear, practical way. His work sits at the crossroads of Victorian Catholic thought and the revival of scholastic philosophy.
1 Audiobook
Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Deontology and Natural Law
by Joseph Rickaby
About the author
Born in Everingham, Yorkshire, on November 20, 1845, he was educated at Stonyhurst College, joined the Society of Jesus in 1863, and was ordained in 1877. He became part of the group sometimes called the "Stonyhurst Philosophers," a circle associated with the revival of neo-scholastic thought in England.
He taught and wrote widely, especially on logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, and Catholic theology. Among the works most often linked with him are Moral Philosophy, First Principles in Morals, and Aquinas Ethicus, reflecting his long engagement with the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and his effort to make it accessible to modern readers.
He died on December 18, 1932, in North Wales. Remembered as an English Jesuit priest, philosopher, and author, he left behind a body of work that helped shape Catholic intellectual life in Britain during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.