Webster Scholars Retreat: April 21-22, 2017

Prophets on Trial: Socrates and Joan of Arc

Retreat Director: James Bernard Murphy, Department of Government

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            Prophets, whether false or true, are a profound challenge to any society.  It is said that a prophet is honored everywhere except in his or her own country.  Why are prophets so dangerous? Why do they provoke such conflict? Prophets: you can’t live with them or without them.

            From Friday dinner until Saturday dinner (April 21-22), Professor James Bernard Murphy of the Government Department will lead an intensive, one-day-long intellectual retreat in the Hanover Inn for a small group of Dartmouth students to discuss the life, the trial, and the death of Socrates and Joan of Arc.  These famous trials and executions illustrate the collision of religious, political, and prophetic authority that is found in all societies. Were these trials and condemnations unjust?  Why? After comparing the fates of these two famous prophets, we shall discuss the role of prophets in our own society.

            In this retreat experience, we shall all leave behind our daily routines and worries for an intensive immersion in discussion of great books and issues of permanent importance.  As our conversations move between meals and seminars, we shall get to know each other as well. 

            In preparation for our retreat, students will be required to read Plato’s dialogues about the trial and death of Socrates as well as Bernard Shaw’s drama Saint Joan. Socrates is often called the founder of Western moral and political philosophy; Joan of Arc is a Catholic saint who is sometimes called the first Protestant and the first nationalist.  Yet we shall discover strange parallels in their lives and trials.

            Students interested in participating in this retreat should write a paragraph in an email to me in response to each of these questions: 1) Why do you want to join this retreat? What do you hope to get out of it? 2) Are there any prophets in American society today? How do we know a true from a false prophet?

            The application deadline is March 7.  Acceptances will be announced by March 21. Retreat members who complete all the requirements will receive a $500 honorarium for their participation.