Dennis C. Rasmussen
Professor, Political Science
Degree
Ph.D., Duke University, 2005
Specialties
Political theory, history of political thought
Courses
PSC 125/PHI 125—Political Theory
PSC 326/HST 383—Foundations of American Political Thought
PSC 345—Capitalism, For and Against
PSC 376—The Creation of the U.S. Constitution
Biography
Dennis C. Rasmussen is a political theorist whose research focuses
on the Enlightenment, the American founding, and the virtues
and shortcomings of liberal democracy and market capitalism. He received a
Ph.D. from Duke University in 2005 and a B.A. from Michigan
State University’s James Madison College in 2000. Before coming to
Syracuse, he held positions at Tufts University, the University of Houston,
Brown University and Bowdoin College. He is the author of four books,
including “The Infidel and
the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern
Thought” (Princeton University Press, 2017), which was shortlisted for the
Ralph Waldo Emerson Award and named a best book of the year by The
Guardian, Bloomberg, Project Syndicate, Australian Book Review and Five
Books. His most recent book is “Fears of a Setting
Sun: The Disillusionment of America's Founders” (Princeton
University Press, 2021).