MSU philosophy professor Dr. Scott Davison publishes two books
Dr. Scott Davison, professor of philosophy and interim dean of the Caudill College for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Morehead State University, has published two new books touching on different aspects of faith and philosophy.
His third book, "God and Prayer," is part of the Cambridge University Press Elements Series in the philosophy of religion (https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/elements/the-philosophy-of-religion). It builds upon the analysis developed from his previous book, "Petitionary Prayer: A Philosophical Investigation" (Oxford University Press, 2017) and points to new directions for further study.
"The series is designed to provide short, accessible introductions to contemporary debates in philosophy," Davison said. "The focus of the book is philosophical debates about whether and how petitionary prayers might make a difference to God's action in the world, if there is a God."
Davison followed this up with his fourth book, "The Protests of Job: An Interfaith Dialogue," published through Palgrave MacMillan. This collaborative exchange is about the Book of Job, a key book in the Hebrew scriptures. As co-author, Davison represents a Christian approach to understanding Job's protests that compares them to the protests of Jesus. Dr. Shira Weiss, professor of philosophy who teaches Jewish Thought at Yeshiva University, and Dr. Sajjad Rizvi, professor of Islamic intellectual history and director of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, represent Jewish and Muslim approaches, respectively.
Davison said his participation in several international, interfaith research projects funded by the Templeton Foundation over the past few years led to opportunities to collaborate with scholars from other faith traditions and other countries and presented this opportunity.
"Shira Weiss and Sajjad Rizvi and I each provide an opening essay exploring Job's protests against God in the canonical stories about Job in our traditions. Then we each provide an essay responding to the opening essays of the other two authors," he said. "The result is an interfaith discussion of the problem of evil, the goodness of God, and the point of protests against suffering. We hope that it reaches a wide audience."
For a short time, "God and Prayer" is available to download for free at for a short time, this book is available to download for free at www.cambridge.org/core/elements/god-and-prayer/6F1D196BEABB454990AC3489BDCCFF97.
Dr. Scott Davison can be reached at s.davison@moreheadstate.edu or 606-783-2273.
For more information on the Department of History, Philosophy, Politics, Global Studies and Legal Studies, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/hpgl, email hpgl@moreheadstate.edu or call 606-783-2655.
