Political Science Faculty
Ryan Patrick Hanley
J. Joseph Moakley Professor of Political Science
Ryan Patrick Hanley
Contact
McGuinn Hall 429
Telephone: 617-552-3825
Email: ryan.hanley@bc.edu
Education
- B.A. (Honors), University of Pennsylvania
- M.Phil., University of Cambridge
- Ph.D., University of Chicago
Courses
Enlightenment Political Theory
Political Philosophy of 1776
Capitalism and Socialism
Political Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition
Politics and Literature
Graduate Seminars: Adam Smith, Augustine, Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, Rousseau
Expertise
- Political Philosophy
Department
Biography
Ryan聽Patrick聽Hanley聽is the J. Joseph Moakley Professor of Political Science and Professor of Philosophy (by courtesy) at Boston College. Prior to joining the faculty at Boston College, he was the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, and held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. A specialist on the political philosophy of the Enlightenment period, he is the author of over seventy articles and chapters and four books, including聽Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue聽(Cambridge, 2009),聽Love's Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity聽(Cambridge, 2017),聽Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life聽(Princeton, 2019), and聽The Political Philosophy of F茅nelon聽(Oxford, 2020).聽 He is most recently the editor of聽Love: A History聽(Oxford, 2024), in the Oxford Philosophical Concepts series.
Publications
Books
The Political Philosophy of F茅nelon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020)
Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life聽(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019)
Love's Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity聽(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017)
Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue聽(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Edited Volumes
Love: A History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024)
F茅nelon: Moral and Political Writings (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020)
Adam Smith: His Life, Thought, and Legacy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015)
The Theory of Moral Sentiments (London: Penguin Classics, 2010)
Recent Articles
鈥淎dam Smith on Social Progress and the Evolution of Love,鈥� Political Theory (forthcoming).
鈥淎dam Smith鈥檚 Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Death of Nations,鈥� Constellations 32 (2025): 184-97.聽
鈥淧ascal鈥檚 Philosophical Method,鈥� History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis 27 (2024): 217-32.
鈥溾�楳y Entire Philosophy鈥�: The Project of Rousseau鈥檚 Lettres morales,鈥� Interpretation 49 (2023): 209-227.
鈥淒istance Learning: The Political Education of Montesquieu鈥檚 Persian Letters,鈥� Review of Politics 83 (2021): 533-54.
鈥淩ousseau鈥檚 Three Revolutions,鈥� European Journal of Philosophy 29 (2021): 105-119.