Brian Davies (philosopher)

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Brian Evan Anthony Davies (born 7 July 1951) is Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University (1995–), and author of the classic An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, now available in a third English edition and translated into five Asian and European languages.

Contents 1 Education 2 Religious and sacerdotal life 3 Teaching 4 Publications 4.1 Writing 4.2 Editing

[edit] Education

Davies read Theology at the University of Bristol (BA 1972) and undertook graduate studies at King's College London (MTh 1973, Tutorial Assistant 1974-76, PhD 1976).

[edit] Religious and sacerdotal life

Davies is a Dominican friar and in 1982 he was ordained a priest in the Catholic Church.

[edit] Teaching

Davies spent the period 1982-95 at the University of Oxford. Throughout those years he was Lecturer in Theology and Philosophy at Blackfriars, Oxford. Davies was also Tutor in Theology, St Benet's Hall and a member of the Faculty of Theology (1983–95); Regent of Studies of the English Dominican Province (1988–95); University Research Lecturer (1993–95); and member of the Sub-Faculty of Philosophy (1994–95). In 1994 Davies was appointed Regent of Blackfriars and, as a Head of House, received the degree of Master of Arts by Special Decree. In 1995 he took up his current appointment at Fordham University.

Davies has held Visiting Professorships at the Collegio Beda, Rome (Spring 1987 and Spring 1988), Fordham University (July-August 1987, July-August 1988, and Fall 1994), and Candler School of Theology, Emory University (Spring 1993).

[edit] Publications

[edit] Writing

Some of Davies's publications include:

• An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1982; revised edition, 1993; 3rd edition 2003; Korean translation, 1996; Romanian translation, 1996; Ukrainian translation, 1996; Hungarian translation, 1999; Polish translation 2006)

• Thinking About God (Geoffrey Chapman: London, 1985)

• The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1992)

• Aquinas (Continuum: London and New York, 2002)

• Aquinas: An Introduction (Continuum: London and New York, 2003)

• The Reality of God and the Problem of Evil (Continuum: London and New York, 2006)

He has also contributed:

• more than twenty chapters or articles to books;

• more than seventy articles in scholarly journals including New Blackfriars, The Downside Review, The Clergy Review, Irish Theological Quarterly, The Monist, Philosophy, Theology, Cogito, International Philosophical Quarterly, Sophia, Revue Internationale de Philosophie, and Think;

• book reviews in Anglican Theological Review, Faith and Philosophy, Journal of Theological Studies, The Philosophical Review, Theology Today, and The Thomist; and

• numerous contributions in The Times, The Tablet, and the Times Literary Supplement.

[edit] Editing

Davies has edited:

• Language, Meaning and God: Essays in honour of Herbert McCabe O.P. (Geoffrey Chapman: London, 1987)

• With G.R. Evans, Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works (Oxford University Press: Oxford,1998)

• Philosophy of Religion: A Guide to the Subject (Geoffrey Chapman: London, 1998)

• Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2000)

• The De Malo of Thomas Aquinas (tr. Richard Regan; ed., Introduction, and Notes Brian Davies) (Oxford University Press: New York and Oxford, 2001)

• Thomas Aquinas: Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives (Oxford University Press: New York and Oxford, 2002)

• With Brian Leftow, The Cambridge Companion to Anselm (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2004)

• Aquinas’s “Summa Theologiae”: Critical Essays (Roman and Littlefield: Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronoto, Oxford, 2005)

• With Brian Leftow, Aquinas: “Summa Theologiae”, Questions on God (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 2006)

Davies is also editor of the Outstanding Christian Thinkers series (Continuum: London and New York, 1989-2004), for which he has overseen the publication of twenty-eight volumes, and of the Great Medieval Thinkers, published by Oxford University Press. He was Book Reviews Editor for New Blackfriars (1979-95) and a member of the editorial board for Religious Studies (2000-06). He is now Associate European Editor (1992-) and Book Reviews Editor (1996-)for the International Philosophical Quarterly.

As literary executor for the late Herbert McCabe (died 2001), Davies has edited and published three volumes of work that McCabe left at the time of his death: God Still Matters (Continuum: London and New York, 2002); God, Christ and Us (Continuum: London and New York, 2003); The Good Life: Ethics and the Pursuit of Happiness (Continuum: London and New York, 2005), while a fourth volume, Faith Within Reason, is awaited.