Murray Dry
Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science
dry@middlebury.edu
work(802) 443-5305
fax802-443-3216
by appointment
Munroe Hall 221
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
FYSE 1030 - Love & Friendship
Love and Friendship
We will start with Plato's Phaedrus, to learn about love (eros) and its relationship to speaking and writing, followed by Plato’s Symposium, also on love. Next, we read Aristotle's Ethics to consider friendship in relation to politics and philosophy. Then we will read: a Shakespeare Sonnet; Montaigne's essay, "Of Friendship"; Bacon’s essay “Of Friendship,”; Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and As You Like It; Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park; and George Eliot’s Middlemarch. We will also study parts of The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, by Sister Miriam Joseph. 3 hrs. sem. CW EUR LIT
Spring 2018
PSCI 0101 - Intro to Political Philosophy
Introduction to Political Philosophy
What is politics? What is the purpose of politics? Is there a best regime? Is it attainable? What is justice? What is the good life? How is each related to political life? Is there a science of politics? In this course, we will raise these and other fundamental questions through a study of major ancient and modern works of political philosophy. Authors may include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Constant, Tocqueville, Mill, Marx, and Nietzsche. 4 hrs. lect./disc. (Political Theory) EUR PHL SOC
Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2017
PSCI 0102 - American Political Regime ▹
The American Political Regime
This is a course in American political and constitutional thought. The theme, taken from de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, is the problem of freedom. The first half covers the American founding up through the Civil War and the "refounding." This includes de Tocqueville, Madison's Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention, the Federalist-Anti-Federalist ratification debate, Supreme Court decisions (Marbury, McCulloch), writings of Jefferson, Calhoun, and Lincoln. The second half considers basic problems in American politics, such as race, gender, foreign policy, and education. Readings include a novel, de Tocqueville, and Supreme Court decisions (Brown, Frontiero, Roe, Casey, Grutter, Lawrence). 4 hrs. lect./disc. (American Politics)/ AMR NOR SOC
Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019
PSCI 0288 - Love and Friendship
Love and Friendship in Literature and Philosophy
Love and friendship are important topics for understanding the best human life and its relationship to the best regime. We will study Plato’s Phaedrus and Symposium; Aristotle’s Ethics; essays on friendship by Montagne and Bacon; Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and another play; Rousseau’s Emile; a Jane Austen novel, and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. We will also watch two movies: The Philadelphia Story and Anna Karenina. (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1030) (Political Theory)/ EUR LIT PHL
Winter 2015
PSCI 0305 - American Constitutional Law
American Constitutional Law: The Federal System
This course examines the development of American constitutionalism through study of Supreme Court decisions. Every major topic but the bill of rights (see PSCI 0306) is covered. Using the Sullivan and Gunther Constitutional Law casebook, we begin with judicial review and then study the development of legal doctrines surrounding the commerce clause, the due process and equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment, and the separation of powers. Recent cases focus on affirmative action and federal protection of civil rights. Interpretive books and essays are considered, as time permits. A mock court exercise is anticipated. (Juniors and seniors with PSCI 0102 or PSCI 0104 or PSCI 0306) 3 hrs. lect./disc. (American Politics)/ AMR NOR
Fall 2015, Fall 2017
PSCI 0306 - American Constitutional Law ▲
American Constitutional Law: The First Amendment
This course focuses on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the first amendment freedoms of speech, press, and religion. After starting with the philosophic foundations of these first amendment freedoms (Mill, Locke), students will read the major Supreme Court decisions concerning these rights. Class assignments in the form of oral arguments and briefs and/or options will enable students to take the part of lawyers and judges. (Sophomores, juniors and seniors with PSCI 0102 or 0104 or 0205 or 0206 or 0305 or waiver) 3 hrs. lect./disc. (American Politics)/ AMR NOR PHL
Fall 2014, Fall 2018
PSCI 0317 - Ancient & Med. Pol. Philosophy ▲
Ancient and Medieval Political Philosophy
We will study some classic works in ancient and medieval political philosophy: Plato (Laws, RepublicApology, Republic, Gorgias, Protagoras, Meno); Aristotle (Ethics, Politics, Rhetoric); Cicero (Republic, Laws), Maimonides (Guide to the Perplexed), Aquinas (Summa Theologica, Summa Contra Gentiles), Alfarabi (The Political Regime). (PSCI 0101 or PSCI 0107 or by waiver) 4 hrs. lect./disc. (Political Theory)/ PHL SOC
Spring 2016, Fall 2018
PSCI 0318 - Modern Political Philosophy ▹
Modern Political Philosophy
In this course. we will study: Machiavelli (Prince, Discourses); Bacon
(Advancement of Learning); Hobbes (Leviathan); Locke (Second Treatise);
Spinoza (Theological-Political Treatise); Montesquieu (Spirit of the Laws);
Rousseau (Social Contract); Burke (Reflections); Kant (Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Perpetual Peace); Hegel (Introduction to Philosophy of History); Marx (Communist Manifesto, German Ideology, Capital); Nietzsche
(Beyond Good and Evil); Heidegger (Question Concerning Technology).
We will examine modernity's rejection of ancient thought, its later replacement of nature by history as the standard for right, and its subsequent rejection of any standard of right. Other topics include religion, freedom ofspeech, and the separation of powers. (PSCI 0101 or PSCI 0107 or PSCI 0317, or PSCI 0333, or waiver) 4.5 hrs. lect./disc. (Political Theory)/ EUR PHL SOC
Spring 2015, Spring 2019
PSCI 0500 - Independent Project ▲ ▹
Independent Projects
A program of independent work designed to meet the individual needs of advanced students. (Approval required)
Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019
PSCI 0700 - Honors Thesis ▲ ▹
Honors Thesis
(Approval required)
Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019
PSCI 1158 - On Tyranny
On Tyranny
In this course we will study tyranny, which has been called “a danger coeval with political life” (Leo Strauss). To understand that statement and how technology and ideology have changed tyranny, we will read classic works from political philosophy and literature (Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Republic VIII-IX and Charmides; Xenophon’s Hiero, or On Tyranny; Machiavelli’s Prince; and Shakespeare’s Macbeth) and modern works (Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political; Leo Strauss on Xenophon, followed by Alexander Kojeve’s Commentary and Strauss’s Restatement; Heidegger, “Question Concerning Technology”; Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism, vol. 3; and writing by one tyrant). EUR PHL WTR
Winter 2018
Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests
American Constitutional Law
Political Philosophy
American Political Thought
Freeedom of Speech and Religious Liberty
Federalism
The Separation of Powers
The American Founding
Work in Progress
Same Sex Marriage and the Constitution (book)
