Shadia B. Drury (born 1950) is a Canadian academic and

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

. She is a professor emerita at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...

. In 2005, she was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

Early life and education

Drury was born in Egypt but earned her Bachelor of Arts at Queen's University and her PhD from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

Career

Drury has taught Political Science and

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. ...

at two western Canadian universities: first at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and at the

, where she holds the

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Social Justice. In 2005, she was elected a Fellow of the

. Two years later, she published "''Aquinas and Modernity: The Lost Promise of Natural Law''" through the Cambridge University Press. She is also a columnist for ''

Free Inquiry ''Free Inquiry'' is a bimonthly journal of secular humanist opinion and commentary published by the Council for Secular Humanism, a program of the Center for Inquiry. Philosopher Paul Kurtz was the editor-in-chief from its inception in 1980 until ...

'' magazine.

Criticism

Several political philosophers consider Drury's attacks on

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...

and his followers to be unfounded. In his 2009 book, ''Straussophobia: Defending Leo Strauss and Straussians against Shadia Drury and Other Accusers'', Peter Minowitz argues that Drury’s work is “plagued by exaggerations, misquotations, contradictions, factual errors, and defective documentation.”Peter Minowitz, Straussophobia: Defending Leo Strauss and Straussians against Shadia Drury and Other Accusers (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009).

Bibliography

*''The Concept of Natural Law'', Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 1978. Canadian Theses Division, National Library,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, Canadiana: 790230615 *''Law and Politics: Readings in Legal and Political Thought''. Edited with introduction and essay by Shadia B. Drury; associate editor, Rainer Knopff.

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

: Detselig, 1980. *''The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss'', Revised Edition. New York: St. Martin's Press,(originally published in 1988) 2005. *''

Alexandre Kojève Alexandre Kojève ( , ; 28 April 1902 – 4 June 1968) was a Russian-born French philosopher and statesman whose philosophical seminars had an immense influence on 20th-century French philosophy, particularly via his integration of Hegelian con ...

: The Roots of Postmodern Politics''. Palgrave Macmillan. 1994. *''Leo Strauss and the American Right''. Palgrave Macmillan. 1999. *''Terror and Civilization:

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, and the Western Psyche''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004 *''Aquinas and Modernity: The Lost Promise of Natural Law''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2008.

References

External links

* Matthew Rothschild
Shadia Drury interview: Political Ideas of Leo Strauss
''Progressive Radio'', 2005.
The New Machiavelli: Leo Strauss and the Politics of Fear
CBC, April 27, 2005. * Shadia Drury
Leo Strauss and the Grand Inquisitor
''Free Inquiry magazine'', June 2004. * Shadia Drury
"Gurus of Endless War"

New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by the Rationalist Association in the UK, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History The ''New Humanist'' has been in print for more than ...