David Kyle Johnson (born 1977) is a Professor of

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. Some ...

at King's College in

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

, Pennsylvania. He specializes in logic, metaphysics, free will, and philosophy of religion.

Early life

Johnson was born in Guymon, Oklahoma in 1977. He attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

(from 2000 to 2006) where he earned a master's degree and doctorate in philosophy.

Academic philosophy

Johnson's first published article, ''God, fatalism, and temporal ontology'', was based on his dissertation ''Divine Omniscience and the Fatalist Dilemma''. He has written extensively and debated (in print) with

Victor Reppert Victor Reppert (born 1953) is an American philosopher best known for his development of the "argument from reason". He is the author of ''C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea'' (2003) and numerous academic papers in journals such as ''Christian Scholars' R ...

on the

Argument from reason The argument from reason is an argument against metaphysical naturalism and for the existence of God (or at least a supernatural being that is the source of human reason). The best-known defender of the argument is C. S. Lewis. Lewis first defen ...

, a debate which began in

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

's ''Christian Apologetics : Pro and Con'', edited by Gregory Bassham. Johnson asserts that Reppert's argument fails for three reasons: 1) It "loads the die" by falsely assuming that naturalism, by definition, can't include mental causation "on the basic level". 2) Physical processes can reliably produce true beliefs. And 3) "reasoning isn’t necessarily mental". In his 2013 article ''A Refutation of Skeptical Theism'', Johnson argued that, contrary to the claims of skeptical theists, observing seemingly unjustified evil does reduce the probability of God's existence. He subsequently exchanged views on the topic with Timothy Perrine. Johnson has published articles in journals such as Sophia, Religious Studies,

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's deplo ...

, ''SHERM (Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry)'', and ''Science, Religion, and Culture'', along with a trilogy of articles, on the existence of souls, free will, and God, for the journal

Think In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...

Popular philosophy

Johnson has produced three lectures for

The Great Courses The Teaching Company, doing business as Wondrium, is a media production company that produces educational, video and audio content in the form of courses, documentaries, series under two content brands - Wondrium and The Great Courses. The compa ...

series: ''Exploring Metaphysics (2014)'', ''The Big Questions of Philosophy (2016)'' and ''Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy (2018)''. He has edited three books for William Irwin’s Philosophy and Pop Culture series (released via Blackwell Publishing): ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

and Philosophy: Dark Reflections'', ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltr ...

and Philosophy: Because It's Never Just a Dream'', and ''Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the World''. He also co-edited (with William Irwin) ''Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture: From Socrates to South Park, Hume to House''. Johnson gave a popular

Talks at Google Talks at Google is a global, internal talks series hosted by Google. The talks are most often hosted for Google employees before being publicly released on their YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform ...

presentation on his book ''Inception and Philosophy''. He is the editor of ''The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy''. He took on the title of executive officer for the Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR) in 2020. In 2015, Johnson released ''The Myths that Stole Christmas: Seven Misconceptions that Hijacked the Holiday (and How We Can Take It Back)''. Johnson has presented many arguments against lying to children about the existence of

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

. Specifically, he suggests that the Santa Lie should be avoided because "It's a lie, it degrades your parental trustworthiness, it encourages credulity, it does not encourage imagination, and it's equivalent to bribing your kids for good behavior." He also appeared on

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...

’s Fox News commentary program, Hannity, to talk about the issue; afterward Johnson wrote “Sorry Sean Hannity, the Truth About Santa Isn’t “Fake News”. Johnson maintains two blogs for

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direct ...

: "Plato on Pop" and "A Logical Take." He has also written for the London School of Economics’ Blog on American Politics and Policy.

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...

has praised Johnson for his work and for creating a personal interest in philosophy. Nye has said of ''The Big Questions of Philosophy'', “I read his book so many times, it fell apart. I had to get another copy.”

Awards

Whilst studying in Oklahoma Johnson won the Kenneth Merrill Graduate Teaching Award. In 2011, the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly ...

’s committee on public philosophy gave him an award for his ability to make philosophy accessible to the general public.

Bibliography

Books authored

*''Exploring Metaphysics'' (2014) *''The Myths that Stole Christmas: Seven Misconceptions that Hijacked the Holiday (and How We Can Take It Back)'' (2015) *''The Big Questions of Philosophy'' (2016) *''Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy'' (2018)

Books edited

*''Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the World'' (2009) *''Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture: From Socrates to South Park, Hume to House'' (2010) *''Inception and Philosophy: Because It's Never Just a Dream'' (2011) *''Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections'' (2019)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, David Living people 1977 births