Davison publishes second book

Morehead State University’s Dr. Scott A. Davison, professor of philosophy, has just published his second book, “Petitionary Prayer: A Philosophical Investigation.”

The book was produced by Oxford University Press, and printed and distributed first in the United Kingdom (in February) and now in the United States. The book is available from the publisher’s website, www.global.oup.com, and from Amazon, but Davison cautions that its intended audience is specialists in the field.

“It is written to address some fairly abstract scholarly disputes about what role petitionary prayers might play in God’s action in the world, assuming the traditional theistic picture of things,” said Davison. “It presupposes a lot of technical philosophical vocabulary and provides detailed arguments concerning human freedom, responsibility, and knowledge, so it is intended for those who are familiar with philosophical research in these areas.”

Davison has written extensively on issues in the philosophy of religion, including entries concerning prophecy and petitionary prayer for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and his first book, "On the Intrinsic Value of Everything" (Continuum, 2012.) But the publication of this book, which took nearly 10 years to write, represents an especially significant scholarly achievement, since Oxford University Press is one of the most prestigious publishing venues for philosophy in the English-speaking world.

Davison earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy from The Ohio State University before earning master's and doctoral degrees in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He has been teaching philosophy at MSU since 1995 and won the Distinguished Researcher Award in 2011.  

He currently serves as associate editor for Faith and Philosophy and book review editor for the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion.  Recently a research fellow in the Moore Institute at the National University of Ireland in Galway, he also has taught philosophy at Calvin College and Minzu University of China, served on the Executive Committee of the Society of Christian Philosophers, and is past president of the Society for Philosophy of Religion.

For additional information, contact Davison at 606-783-2273 or email s.davison@moreheadstate.edu.

For more information on MSU's Department of History, Philosophy, Politics, International and Legal Studies, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/hpil.