Alexander Joseph Ranald Shaw (born 1971) is an English

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. He serves chairman of the

Latin Mass Society The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales is a Catholic society dedicated to making the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass, more widely available in England and Wales. The group organised a petition for th ...

, an organisation devoted to propagation of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

, and as president of ''

Una Voce The ''Fœderatio Internationalis Una Voce'' or simply ''Una Voce'' (Latin for "With One Voice"; from the preface to the Roman Canon) is an international federation of Catholic lay organizations attached to the Tridentine Mass. History The ''Foede ...

''. Shaw is the son of the late

Thomas Shaw, 3rd Baron Craigmyle Thomas Shaw, 3rd Baron Craigmyle KStJ, (17 November 1923 – 30 April 1998) was a British aristocrat, a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism and a philanthropist. Early life Thomas Donald Mackay Shaw, The (3rd) Lord Craigmyle, was the son of ...

(1923–1998) and Anthea Craigmyle (née Rich) (1933–2016). He was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He is currently a tutorial fellow in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

St Benet's Hall, Oxford St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed down in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern en ...

. His main areas of interest are practical

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

, the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

and

medieval philosophy Medieval philosophy is the philosophy that existed through the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century until after the Renaissance in the 13th and 14th centuries. Medieval philosophy, ...

. In 2015, he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. A

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, Christian liturgy, liturgical forms, Catholic devotions, devotions, and presentations of Catholic Church, Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church befo ...

, Shaw was a signatory of the 2017 "filial correction" ''

Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis ''Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis'' (Latin: "Filial correction concerning propagated heresies") is an August 11, 2017 petition initially by 62 critics of Pope Francis, who argued that the pope propagated heresies, with regard to seve ...

'', which ascribed

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

content to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

's apostolic exhortation ''

Amoris laetitia ''Amoris laetitia'' (''The Joy of Love'') is a post- synodal apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis addressing the pastoral care of families. Dated 19 March 2016, it was released on 8 April 2016. It follows the Synods on the Family held in 201 ...

''. Shaw was also an early critic of Pope Francis’s ''

motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a do ...

'' '' Traditionis custodes'', which abrogated permissions for celebration of the

References

External links

Joseph Shaw's Philosophy Blog
* 1971 births 21st-century English philosophers Alumni of the University of Oxford British ethicists Catholic philosophers Christian ethicists English traditionalist Catholics Fellows of St Benet's Hall, Oxford Living people People educated at Ampleforth College Philosophers of religion Scholars of medieval philosophy Younger sons of barons {{RC-bio-stub