David Kyle Johnson (born 1977) is a Professor of Philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He specializes in logic, metaphysics, free will, and philosophy of religion.

Early life

Johnson was born in Guymon, Oklahoma in 1977.[1]

He attended the University of Oklahoma (from 2000 to 2006) where he earned a master's degree and doctorate in philosophy.[2]

Academic philosophy

Johnson's first published article, God, fatalism, and temporal ontology,[3] was based on his dissertation Divine Omniscience and the Fatalist Dilemma.[4]

He has written extensively and debated (in print) with Victor Reppert on the Argument from reason, a debate which began in C. S. Lewis'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".[5][6]

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.[7]

Johnson has published articles in journals such as Sophia, Religious Studies, Philo, 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.

Johnson has produced three lectures for The Great Courses 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 and Philosophy: Dark Reflections, Inception 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.[8]

Johnson gave a popular Talks at Google presentation on his book Inception and Philosophy.[9]

He is the editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy.[10]

He took on the title of executive officer for the Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR) in 2020.[11]

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.[12][13] 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."[14][15]

He also appeared on Sean Hannity’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”.[16][17][18]

Johnson maintains two blogs for Psychology Today: "Plato on Pop" and "A Logical Take."

He has also written for the London School of Economics’ Blog on American Politics and Policy.[19]

Bill Nye 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.”[20]

Awards

Whilst studying in Oklahoma Johnson won the Kenneth Merrill Graduate Teaching Award.[2]

In 2011, the American Philosophical Association’s committee on public philosophy gave him an award for his ability to make philosophy accessible to the general public.[21]

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

  1. ↑ "David Kyle Johnson (Biographical Information)". infidels.org.
  2. 1 2 "The Great Courses". www.thegreatcourses.com.
  3. ↑ Johnson, David Kyle (2009). "God, Fatalism, and Temporal Ontology". Religious Studies. 45 (4): 435–454. doi:10.1017/S0034412509990059. JSTOR 27750034. S2CID 171020517 – via JSTOR.
  4. ↑ https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/980/3206970.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
  5. ↑ Johnson, David Kyle. "Naturalism Undefeated (A Refutation of C.S. Lewis' "Argument from Reason")". Gregory Bassham's "C.S. Lewis' Christian Apologetics" (Chapter 6) – via www.academia.edu.
  6. ↑ Johnson, David Kyle (January 6, 2018). "Retiring the Argument From Reason". Philosophia Christi. 20 (2): 541–563. doi:10.5840/pc201820249 – via PhilPapers.
  7. ↑ "David Kyle Johnson (Kings College) - PhilPeople". philpeople.org.
  8. ↑ "Wiley". www.wiley.com.
  9. ↑ "Inception and Philosophy | Kyle Johnson | Talks at Google - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  10. ↑ Kowalski, Dean A; Lay, Chris; s. Engels, Kimberly, eds. (January 6, 2020). The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-97134-6. ISBN 978-3-319-97134-6. S2CID 243517020.
  11. ↑ "Academic Society Officers". GCRR.
  12. ↑ Johnson, David (13 December 2009). "Sorry, Virginia..." Baltimore Sun [via Internet Archive]. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  13. ↑ "Rationally Speaking | Official Podcast of New York City Skeptics - Current Episodes - RS 148 - David Kyle Johnson on "The Myths that Stole Christmas"". rationallyspeakingpodcast.org.
  14. ↑ "Say Goodbye to the Santa Claus Lie". Psychology Today.
  15. ↑ "Lying To Kids About Santa Can Erode Their Trust, Psychologists Say". Vocativ. November 25, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Hannity Clashes With Guest Over Whether We Should Lie to Kids About Santa Claus: 'You Need to Loosen Up'". December 6, 2018.
  17. ↑ Washington Post, Dec 6, 2018
  18. ↑ "Sorry Sean Hannity, the Truth About Santa Isn't "Fake News"". Psychology Today.
  19. ↑ "Trump's war on Christmas is just one part of his coming war on free speech". December 23, 2016.
  20. ↑ Goldhill, Olivia (15 April 2017). "Bill Nye says I convinced him that philosophy is not just a load of self-indulgent crap". Quartz.
  21. ↑ "Dec 2019 Speaker: David Kyle Johnson, Ph.D. presents SNL's Blasphemy and Rippin' up the Pope". Lehigh Valley Humanists.
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