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Articles and Book Chapters by Daniel E Burns
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Apr 25, 2024
Locke bases his moral and political philosophy on his doctrine of the ‘law of nature’. Scholars h... more Locke bases his moral and political philosophy on his doctrine of the ‘law of nature’. Scholars have debated the content and grounding of this law and its relationship to Christian theology. The ambiguities of the Lockean natural law’s content are traceable to an unclear grammatical construction in a crucial passage of the _Treatises of Government_, which can be resolved by following out a related set of arguments in that work. The ambiguities of the Lockean natural law’s grounding can then be resolved by the hypothesis, strongly supported by textual evidence, that Locke relies tacitly on the reasoning of a parallel passage in Hobbes. Lockean natural law rests on neither atheistic nor specifically Christian premises but on a hypothetical natural theology. Locke’s conclusions from that natural theology represent an attempt to follow out Hobbesian logic while also tightening it up on one important point on which Hobbes himself appears to vacillate.
Review of Politics, 2024
Review essay of Michael Foley's four-volume set of translations and commentaries on Augustine's C... more Review essay of Michael Foley's four-volume set of translations and commentaries on Augustine's Contra Academicos, De Beata Vita, De Ordine, Soliloquia, and De Immortalitate Animae.
Interpretation, 2023
Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill offer related critiques of the excessive power that, per... more Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill offer related critiques of the excessive power that, perhaps surprisingly, *women* enjoy under Rousseauean marriage norms. We summarize those critiques, which are based largely on considerations of freedom and equality that Rousseau would have been sympathetic to. We conclude by suggesting why Rousseau would nonetheless likely not have accepted those critiques.
Democracy and the History of Political Thought, ed. Cain, Sims, and Block, 2021
John Locke is not a democrat, though he is often thought of as one. The most democratic aspect of... more John Locke is not a democrat, though he is often thought of as one. The most democratic aspect of his thought is his doctrine of popular sovereignty, which is largely (although not entirely) a Hobbesian doctrine. On the basis of popular sovereignty, Locke advocates nondemocratic means to popular ends--or rather, to popular ends as those are reconceived by a philosophic elite.
Moreana, 2020
In depicting the Utopia's main character Raphael Hythloday, Thomas More appears to have drawn on ... more In depicting the Utopia's main character Raphael Hythloday, Thomas More appears to have drawn on the character Evodius in Augustine's dialogue On Free Choice. Hythloday and Evodius hold similar views on the relation between human law and the divine prohibition on homicide. Hythloday's views appear at first to be inconsistent, but Evodius's arguments for his related views can help make better sense of Hythloday's. Both characters also turn out to display similar moral-political confusions, caused by the interaction of their Christian faith with their insufficient political education, that hurt their ability to serve their country as good citizens. These confusions are typical of educated Christian citizens but not inevitable: More and Augustine each offer alternative models of more clear-sighted Christians who can serve their earthly homeland in full awareness of its imperfections.
Augustine's Political Thought, ed. Richard Dougherty, 2019
Joseph Ratzinger's early writings on St. Augustine represent a valuable and neglected source for ... more Joseph Ratzinger's early writings on St. Augustine represent a valuable and neglected source for understanding Augustine's relation to the tradition of Platonic political philosophy. Ratzinger points the way to a major research agenda aimed at understanding Augustine's critical appropriation of Platonic thought, which in turn (Ratzinger shows) is essential to understanding Augustine's thought as a whole.
The American tradition of religious freedom can be best understood not as a philosophically rigor... more The American tradition of religious freedom can be best understood not as a philosophically rigorous political theory but as a practical set of compromises between opposed theoretical understandings of politics. This can be seen by analyzing the political thought of John Locke and St. Augustine, neither of whom quite supported what most Americans would recognize as religious freedom. American religious freedom has always been an amalgam of Lockean and Augustinian elements and has been interpreted differently by Americans whose philosophical commitments lean more in the one or the other direction. Unless more Lockean and more Augustinian citizens alike maintain the spirit of statesmanly compromise that characterized the Founding generation, religious freedom as we know it is neither intelligible nor sustainable.
Joseph Ratzinger offers an understanding of religious freedom for contemporary secular democracie... more Joseph Ratzinger offers an understanding of religious freedom for contemporary secular democracies that is grounded in his own studies of Augustine and that offers a challenge to contemporary liberal theory.
English title: "Ecumenism on the Ground: A Glance at Benedict XVI's Travels to Germany"
When discussing the preconditions of liberal Islamic politics, liberal theorists often advocate t... more When discussing the preconditions of liberal Islamic politics, liberal theorists often advocate the reinterpretation of traditional religious texts in light of liberal political theory. Such an interpretive project is worth comparing to a similar project conceived by the medieval Islamic philosopher Alfarabi, whose effort to introduce Greek political philosophy into his political-religious community parallels these efforts to introduce liberal theory into Islamic communities. Alfarabi argued that traditional texts should be reinterpreted in light of a new political science, one based on Greek sources but adapted to the unique needs of a community like his. This article shows how Alfarabi conceived of these adaptations, emphasizing the flexibility that he thought students of Greek political philosophy should adopt in accommodating even Islamic doctrines that they could not fully accept.
Book 1 of Augustine’s dialogue De Libero Arbitrio offers his only systematic account of the prope... more Book 1 of Augustine’s dialogue De Libero Arbitrio offers his only systematic account of the proper tasks of human or political law. While this text is often read as asserting that political law has no moral-educative function, in fact one of its characters, Evodius, is put forth
as a striking illustration of the effects of political law’s educative function. Augustine shows us Evodius in order to demonstrate how difficult it is for a sincere Christian who believes himself independent of the law’s moral guidance to be truly freed from that guidance, and how likely one is to remain under the sway of that guidance even after accepting the “Augustinian” detachment from politics that Augustine eventually brings Evodius to accept. This text shows that laws cannot help but inculcate a certain basic moral understanding in both their Christian and their non-Christian subjects, and hence that the relative quality of this legally inculcated moral education must be part of any genuinely Augustinian evaluation of a given political situation or regime.
Book I of Augustine's work On Free Choice (De Libero Arbitrio) offers a helpful introduction to s... more Book I of Augustine's work On Free Choice (De Libero Arbitrio) offers a helpful introduction to some of the most important themes of political philosophy. The paper makes a case for teaching this text in introductory courses on political thought, theology of social life, and similar topics, alongside or even in place of the more usually assigned excerpts from City of God. The text is written as a dialogue in which Augustine seeks to introduce a student of his to reflection on the ways in which our moral outlook is profoundly shaped by our political citizenship. It invites all of us, whether Christian or non-Christian citizens, to enter into the dialogue ourselves as Augustine's students and so to reflect on the moral significance of our own citizenship.
Nonacademic articles by Daniel E Burns
Public Discourse, 2020
In order to alleviate our social crisis, we will need to improve the moral formation that our ins... more In order to alleviate our social crisis, we will need to improve the moral formation that our institutions provide their members. Yet the institutions best suited to lead in this task are those with a religious mission, which in turn are imperiled by the culture war that elite institutions are waging against them. The cause of institutionalism today therefore requires a forceful defense against the aggressions of the cultural Left. Part two of a two-part review essay.
Public Discourse, 2020
In an important update to Aristotelian political thought, Yuval Levin’s new book shows that the h... more In an important update to Aristotelian political thought, Yuval Levin’s new book shows that the health of a modern society depends on the health of its social institutions, and that our social institutions today are not healthy. Part one of a two-part review essay.
The American Mind, 2020
Even the journalistic versions of political-philosophical debates over the nature and purpose of ... more Even the journalistic versions of political-philosophical debates over the nature and purpose of government are still worth having.
National Review Online, 2020
Young people may occasionally benefit from reading op-ed-length discussions of basic principles o... more Young people may occasionally benefit from reading op-ed-length discussions of basic principles of political philosophy, but our most talented pundits and public intellectuals should spend most of their time working on concrete policy problems rather than doing free advertising for academic graduate school.
National Review, 2020
The federal deduction for charitable giving offers a massively disproportionate benefit to the ch... more The federal deduction for charitable giving offers a massively disproportionate benefit to the charitable causes favored by the wealthy, which tend not to be the institutions closest to the lives of the poor and working class. A recent proposal for reforming this deduction offers a model for how to tackle our nation’s post-2016 challenges without getting bogged down in abstract theoretical debates.
Public Discourse, 2019
Once we recognize the insufficiency of liberal political theory, we should turn back to classical... more Once we recognize the insufficiency of liberal political theory, we should turn back to classical political philosophy, which offers us a deeper understanding of the American tradition and invaluable guidance in reforming our contemporary politics.
Public Discourse, 2019
Conservative critics of “liberalism” are right to identify major flaws in liberal theory. But a d... more Conservative critics of “liberalism” are right to identify major flaws in liberal theory. But a deeper appreciation of those flaws should prevent us from blaming the American political tradition for them. Liberal theory is so erroneous that neither the Founders nor any other Americans could ever really put it into practice.
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Apr 25, 2024
Locke bases his moral and political philosophy on his doctrine of the ‘law of nature’. Scholars h... more Locke bases his moral and political philosophy on his doctrine of the ‘law of nature’. Scholars have debated the content and grounding of this law and its relationship to Christian theology. The ambiguities of the Lockean natural law’s content are traceable to an unclear grammatical construction in a crucial passage of the _Treatises of Government_, which can be resolved by following out a related set of arguments in that work. The ambiguities of the Lockean natural law’s grounding can then be resolved by the hypothesis, strongly supported by textual evidence, that Locke relies tacitly on the reasoning of a parallel passage in Hobbes. Lockean natural law rests on neither atheistic nor specifically Christian premises but on a hypothetical natural theology. Locke’s conclusions from that natural theology represent an attempt to follow out Hobbesian logic while also tightening it up on one important point on which Hobbes himself appears to vacillate.
Review of Politics, 2024
Review essay of Michael Foley's four-volume set of translations and commentaries on Augustine's C... more Review essay of Michael Foley's four-volume set of translations and commentaries on Augustine's Contra Academicos, De Beata Vita, De Ordine, Soliloquia, and De Immortalitate Animae.
Interpretation, 2023
Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill offer related critiques of the excessive power that, per... more Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill offer related critiques of the excessive power that, perhaps surprisingly, *women* enjoy under Rousseauean marriage norms. We summarize those critiques, which are based largely on considerations of freedom and equality that Rousseau would have been sympathetic to. We conclude by suggesting why Rousseau would nonetheless likely not have accepted those critiques.
Democracy and the History of Political Thought, ed. Cain, Sims, and Block, 2021
John Locke is not a democrat, though he is often thought of as one. The most democratic aspect of... more John Locke is not a democrat, though he is often thought of as one. The most democratic aspect of his thought is his doctrine of popular sovereignty, which is largely (although not entirely) a Hobbesian doctrine. On the basis of popular sovereignty, Locke advocates nondemocratic means to popular ends--or rather, to popular ends as those are reconceived by a philosophic elite.
Moreana, 2020
In depicting the Utopia's main character Raphael Hythloday, Thomas More appears to have drawn on ... more In depicting the Utopia's main character Raphael Hythloday, Thomas More appears to have drawn on the character Evodius in Augustine's dialogue On Free Choice. Hythloday and Evodius hold similar views on the relation between human law and the divine prohibition on homicide. Hythloday's views appear at first to be inconsistent, but Evodius's arguments for his related views can help make better sense of Hythloday's. Both characters also turn out to display similar moral-political confusions, caused by the interaction of their Christian faith with their insufficient political education, that hurt their ability to serve their country as good citizens. These confusions are typical of educated Christian citizens but not inevitable: More and Augustine each offer alternative models of more clear-sighted Christians who can serve their earthly homeland in full awareness of its imperfections.
Augustine's Political Thought, ed. Richard Dougherty, 2019
Joseph Ratzinger's early writings on St. Augustine represent a valuable and neglected source for ... more Joseph Ratzinger's early writings on St. Augustine represent a valuable and neglected source for understanding Augustine's relation to the tradition of Platonic political philosophy. Ratzinger points the way to a major research agenda aimed at understanding Augustine's critical appropriation of Platonic thought, which in turn (Ratzinger shows) is essential to understanding Augustine's thought as a whole.
The American tradition of religious freedom can be best understood not as a philosophically rigor... more The American tradition of religious freedom can be best understood not as a philosophically rigorous political theory but as a practical set of compromises between opposed theoretical understandings of politics. This can be seen by analyzing the political thought of John Locke and St. Augustine, neither of whom quite supported what most Americans would recognize as religious freedom. American religious freedom has always been an amalgam of Lockean and Augustinian elements and has been interpreted differently by Americans whose philosophical commitments lean more in the one or the other direction. Unless more Lockean and more Augustinian citizens alike maintain the spirit of statesmanly compromise that characterized the Founding generation, religious freedom as we know it is neither intelligible nor sustainable.
Joseph Ratzinger offers an understanding of religious freedom for contemporary secular democracie... more Joseph Ratzinger offers an understanding of religious freedom for contemporary secular democracies that is grounded in his own studies of Augustine and that offers a challenge to contemporary liberal theory.
English title: "Ecumenism on the Ground: A Glance at Benedict XVI's Travels to Germany"
When discussing the preconditions of liberal Islamic politics, liberal theorists often advocate t... more When discussing the preconditions of liberal Islamic politics, liberal theorists often advocate the reinterpretation of traditional religious texts in light of liberal political theory. Such an interpretive project is worth comparing to a similar project conceived by the medieval Islamic philosopher Alfarabi, whose effort to introduce Greek political philosophy into his political-religious community parallels these efforts to introduce liberal theory into Islamic communities. Alfarabi argued that traditional texts should be reinterpreted in light of a new political science, one based on Greek sources but adapted to the unique needs of a community like his. This article shows how Alfarabi conceived of these adaptations, emphasizing the flexibility that he thought students of Greek political philosophy should adopt in accommodating even Islamic doctrines that they could not fully accept.
Book 1 of Augustine’s dialogue De Libero Arbitrio offers his only systematic account of the prope... more Book 1 of Augustine’s dialogue De Libero Arbitrio offers his only systematic account of the proper tasks of human or political law. While this text is often read as asserting that political law has no moral-educative function, in fact one of its characters, Evodius, is put forth
as a striking illustration of the effects of political law’s educative function. Augustine shows us Evodius in order to demonstrate how difficult it is for a sincere Christian who believes himself independent of the law’s moral guidance to be truly freed from that guidance, and how likely one is to remain under the sway of that guidance even after accepting the “Augustinian” detachment from politics that Augustine eventually brings Evodius to accept. This text shows that laws cannot help but inculcate a certain basic moral understanding in both their Christian and their non-Christian subjects, and hence that the relative quality of this legally inculcated moral education must be part of any genuinely Augustinian evaluation of a given political situation or regime.
Book I of Augustine's work On Free Choice (De Libero Arbitrio) offers a helpful introduction to s... more Book I of Augustine's work On Free Choice (De Libero Arbitrio) offers a helpful introduction to some of the most important themes of political philosophy. The paper makes a case for teaching this text in introductory courses on political thought, theology of social life, and similar topics, alongside or even in place of the more usually assigned excerpts from City of God. The text is written as a dialogue in which Augustine seeks to introduce a student of his to reflection on the ways in which our moral outlook is profoundly shaped by our political citizenship. It invites all of us, whether Christian or non-Christian citizens, to enter into the dialogue ourselves as Augustine's students and so to reflect on the moral significance of our own citizenship.
Public Discourse, 2020
In order to alleviate our social crisis, we will need to improve the moral formation that our ins... more In order to alleviate our social crisis, we will need to improve the moral formation that our institutions provide their members. Yet the institutions best suited to lead in this task are those with a religious mission, which in turn are imperiled by the culture war that elite institutions are waging against them. The cause of institutionalism today therefore requires a forceful defense against the aggressions of the cultural Left. Part two of a two-part review essay.
Public Discourse, 2020
In an important update to Aristotelian political thought, Yuval Levin’s new book shows that the h... more In an important update to Aristotelian political thought, Yuval Levin’s new book shows that the health of a modern society depends on the health of its social institutions, and that our social institutions today are not healthy. Part one of a two-part review essay.
The American Mind, 2020
Even the journalistic versions of political-philosophical debates over the nature and purpose of ... more Even the journalistic versions of political-philosophical debates over the nature and purpose of government are still worth having.
National Review Online, 2020
Young people may occasionally benefit from reading op-ed-length discussions of basic principles o... more Young people may occasionally benefit from reading op-ed-length discussions of basic principles of political philosophy, but our most talented pundits and public intellectuals should spend most of their time working on concrete policy problems rather than doing free advertising for academic graduate school.
National Review, 2020
The federal deduction for charitable giving offers a massively disproportionate benefit to the ch... more The federal deduction for charitable giving offers a massively disproportionate benefit to the charitable causes favored by the wealthy, which tend not to be the institutions closest to the lives of the poor and working class. A recent proposal for reforming this deduction offers a model for how to tackle our nation’s post-2016 challenges without getting bogged down in abstract theoretical debates.
Public Discourse, 2019
Once we recognize the insufficiency of liberal political theory, we should turn back to classical... more Once we recognize the insufficiency of liberal political theory, we should turn back to classical political philosophy, which offers us a deeper understanding of the American tradition and invaluable guidance in reforming our contemporary politics.
Public Discourse, 2019
Conservative critics of “liberalism” are right to identify major flaws in liberal theory. But a d... more Conservative critics of “liberalism” are right to identify major flaws in liberal theory. But a deeper appreciation of those flaws should prevent us from blaming the American political tradition for them. Liberal theory is so erroneous that neither the Founders nor any other Americans could ever really put it into practice.
National Affairs, 2019
Many critics and defenders of "liberalism" today share a common error: both sides accept liberal ... more Many critics and defenders of "liberalism" today share a common error: both sides accept liberal theory's false claim to be the authoritative interpreter of liberal practice. If we are to have a productive conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary liberal politics, a crucial first step will be learning to talk about liberal practice without relying on the theories of Locke, Kant, Mill, Rawls, and their disciples.
America Magazine, 2019
A response to Massimo Faggioli's critique of my argument that American Catholic clergy should ele... more A response to Massimo Faggioli's critique of my argument that American Catholic clergy should elect their own bishops.
Institute for Human Ecology blog, 2018
The Washington Post, 2018
The New York Times, 2018
The clergymen of the U.S. can show our fellow Americans that the Roman Catholic Church is much mo... more The clergymen of the U.S. can show our fellow Americans that the Roman Catholic Church is much more than the Roman Curia.
The American Interest, 2018
The enduring and invaluable insights of Samuel Huntington's work on the "Clash of Civilizations" ... more The enduring and invaluable insights of Samuel Huntington's work on the "Clash of Civilizations" were poorly served by its misleading title.
The American Interest, 2018
Four recent books on the Arab Spring and its aftermath allow us to see the major mistakes of Pres... more Four recent books on the Arab Spring and its aftermath allow us to see the major mistakes of President Obama's Middle East policies.
Contemporary Political Theory, 2019
act. Somehow, the public groupings capable of sustaining the natural and historical development o... more act. Somehow, the public groupings capable of sustaining the natural and historical development of a language and culture had to allow for opportunities for participation and discourse, while nonetheless remaining in some associational connection to one another, reflecting some kind of underlying "uniformity" (though not, Spencer thinks, a "uniform constitutionalism," 202). This argument leads Spencer into speculations about the match between Herder's ideas and the contemporary reality of immigration and multiculturalism, speculations which seem strained at times. Still, the case she makes for imagining the use Herder's philosophy could be put to in morally validating even multilingual states-something that most readings of Herder have thought impossible; whatever else Herder wanted out of a community, it has been assumed, it was an essential connection between the Volk and their language!-is intriguing, and deserves further thought.
What does politics have to do with the family? Should the law be regulating family life? What kin... more What does politics have to do with the family? Should the law be regulating family life? What kind of family structure(s), if any, should the law promote? How does family life affect the life of a political community? What political relevance, if any, should romantic love have? What role should women play in politics? What consequences should the equality of the sexes have for family life and family law? This course will examine a wide range of answers to these and similar questions, given by thinkers from ancient Greece to 21st-century America. Our main goal will be to see how the various authors who have written on these questions can help us think about contemporary issues in family-related public policy.
This course examines arguments about whether it can ever be justifiable or advisable to resist or... more This course examines arguments about whether it can ever be justifiable or advisable to resist or even overthrow one’s government—and if so, then when, why, and how to do so. We read classic treatments of these questions in thinkers from Xenophon to Martin Luther King, Jr., examine some more recent arguments about civil disobedience and nonviolent revolution, and conclude with a look at what “went wrong” after the Arab Uprisings of 2011.
This course examines four classics of “modern” political thought—the intellectual movement that b... more This course examines four classics of “modern” political thought—the intellectual movement that began in the 17th century and has affected every form of government in the world today. We will read Thomas Hobbes, the self-proclaimed author of a radically new kind of political science; John Locke, the founder of what we now call liberal political theory; and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose criticism of Hobbes and Locke is still echoed in misgivings we hear voiced about the modern world that they helped to shape.
This course is an introduction to some of the moral questions faced by any citizen, and above all... more This course is an introduction to some of the moral questions faced by any citizen, and above all by those who take on roles of political leadership. These questions include: What is the relationship between justice and the good of one's political community? Is it possible to be both a good person and a good leader? Is it possible to be a good person but a bad citizen? Are some actions justified in wartime that would be unjustifiable in peacetime? Is it a political leader's job to be concerned with the moral character of his or her fellow citizens? Is it ever his or her job to ignore moral considerations altogether? What happens when religious teachings seem to conflict with the requirements of politics?
This course introduces the political principles that form the basis of our American regime. Stude... more This course introduces the political principles that form the basis of our American regime. Students in this class will seek to become more thoughtful citizens by reading texts that help us understand our nation’s political principles, so that we can preserve what is best in them and guard against their more dangerous tendencies. We will begin with the Constitution and some Founding-era documents that illuminate it. We will then read from Alexis de Tocqueville’s commentary on America, which remains unsurpassed some 180 years after it was written, and finally we will look in greater depth at two of the most contentious issues in American political thought: religion and race.
This course is an introduction to Joseph Ratzinger's understanding of natural law. Ratzinger refe... more This course is an introduction to Joseph Ratzinger's understanding of natural law. Ratzinger refers frequently to the concept of natural law in his writings on social-political issues (both as Cardinal Ratzinger and as Pope Benedict XVI). We will study selections from those writings to see what "natural law" means to Ratzinger. We will also examine how he understands the natural law's relation to divine law, human law, conscience, philosophy, and non-Christian religions, among others.
This course is an introduction to the major current debates in US foreign policy. We will begin b... more This course is an introduction to the major current debates in US foreign policy. We will begin by looking at the constitutional, historical, political, technological, and bureaucratic background against which modern foreign policy operates. We will examine some major competing paradigms for understanding the post-Cold War world as well as the foreign policy doctrines of the first two presidents of this century. After a summary view of a few challenges facing the Trump administration, we will look at three recent books (from the American left, right, and center) offering guidance for today’s American leadership, and will wrap up with a glance at the role of religion in U.S. diplomacy.
Socrates is often called the founder of political philosophy. But according to Plato's depiction,... more Socrates is often called the founder of political philosophy. But according to Plato's depiction, Socrates' relationship to his own political community was often fraught. This course examines six Platonic dialogues treating Socrates' relationship to the city of Athens: two depicting his trial and detention on a capital charge, three depicting the type of conversations that Socrates suggests were the real cause of that charge, and one depicting what appears to be a posthumous reconciliation between Socrates and Athens. We will examine the sources of Plato's Socrates' loyalty to his city as well as of his conflicts with it, and we will explore what all this means for Plato's general view of politics and its relation to intellectual life.
The distinct but related intellectual movements that came to be known as "political liberalism" a... more The distinct but related intellectual movements that came to be known as "political liberalism" and "theological liberalism" each owe a major intellectual debt to the 17 th-century philosophers Hobbes, Spinoza, and Locke. This course looks at those thinkers' most prominent theological writings in order to examine the connection between their reinterpretations of the Bible, on the one hand, and their political philosophies' novel approaches to the public role of religion, on the other. We will examine in particular the ways in which Locke does and does not rely on his predecessors Hobbes and Spinoza as he argues for his version of liberal toleration.
This course is an introduction to Plato's political philosophy concentrating on his longest work,... more This course is an introduction to Plato's political philosophy concentrating on his longest work, the Laws, which offers his most extensive treatment of most aspects of real-world political life. The Laws had an enormous influence on subsequent classical political thought, on medieval Islamic and Jewish political thought, and on the European Renaissance. Its subjects include legislation proper as well as many related topics, including penal justice, magistracy, wealth and poverty, the family, religion and theology, political liberty, freedom of speech and its limits, military regulations, and relations between the sexes. We will also read two dialogues ascribed to Plato and traditionally regarded as the introduction and conclusion to the Laws respectively: the Minos and the Epinomis.
This course is an introduction to the political thought of Xenophon, the Athenian historian, gene... more This course is an introduction to the political thought of Xenophon, the Athenian historian, general, and philosopher. As the only first-generation Socratic to achieve unambiguous political successes, Xenophon combined theoretical and practical excellence at a level arguably unsurpassed in the Greek world. We will focus on his classic mirror of princes, The Education of Cyrus, which depicts the peak of political success through a fictionalized biography of the Persian Empire's legendary founder. We will also illuminate this portrait of king Cyrus by comparing it to the portraits of three other men whom Xenophon depicts in shorter works: the Syracusan tyrant Hiero, the Spartan king Agesilaus, and the Athenian citizen Socrates. Together, these texts cover topics including justice in wartime, political ambition, the nature of human virtue, relations between the sexes, the respective advantages and disadvantages of monarchic and republican rule, and the proper place in political life of gratitude, piety, and morality.
This course examines the political thought of the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero. The car... more This course examines the political thought of the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero. The career of Cicero proves, arguably better than any other in Western history, that the highest level of political success can be combined with the deepest philosophical reflection. His writings have been enormously influential on moral and political thought in every century since he wrote, and they have inspired republican political leaders from the Renaissance through the present day. Until recently, Cicero was widely assumed to be essential to any moral and political education. We will read his four principal writings on morality, politics, and the relation between the two.
Office phone: (972) 721-5278 Office hours: 1:00-3:00 Monday and by appointment dburns@udallas.edu
University of Notre Dame de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference, 2021
My paper is “‘Is It Walls, Then, That Make Men Christians?’ St. Augustine on the Dignity of the M... more My paper is “‘Is It Walls, Then, That Make Men Christians?’ St. Augustine on the Dignity of the Multitude”
“Is it walls, then, that make men Christians?” St. Augustine reports the famed Neoplatonic philosopher and teacher of rhetoric, Victorinus’s arch reply to Simplicianus, who refuses to believe that Victorinus is a Christian until he sees Victorious within the walls of a Church, associating with the throng of men. Neoplatonic philosophy, as Augustine well knows, splits human beings into the few and the many, the philosophers, and the non-philosophers, on the basis of their ability to attain the truth. My paper will first trace those divisions, then explain Augustine’s Christian response to the Neoplatonic division on the basis of Christ’s mediation, and then discuss the ways in which Christ’s mediation does and does not change the relationship between the few and the many. Christ’s ministrations afford the multitude a new kind of dignity based on their ability to live according to the truth as members of Christ’s body, deflating the pride of those who prefer to stand apart from them on the basis of differences in natural capacities, but not ignoring or riding roughshod over real human differences.