# David Alan Johnson

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For other people named David Johnson, see [David Johnson (disambiguation)](/source/David_Johnson_(disambiguation)).

**David Alan Johnson** (born 1952) is Associate Professor of Philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy at [Yeshiva University](/source/Yeshiva_University)[1] and has previously taught at [UCLA](/source/UCLA), [Syracuse University](/source/Syracuse_University), [Ohio State University](/source/Ohio_State_University), [University of Connecticut](/source/University_of_Connecticut), [Wesleyan University](/source/Wesleyan_University), and [College of William & Mary](/source/College_of_William_%26_Mary).[2]

## Work

He was raised in [Lincoln, Nebraska](/source/Lincoln,_Nebraska), and earned his BA from the [University of Nebraska–Lincoln](/source/University_of_Nebraska%E2%80%93Lincoln) while studying under [Robert Audi](/source/Robert_Audi). He earned his PhD from [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) while studying under [Gilbert Harman](/source/Gilbert_Harman), and was influenced by [Saul Kripke](/source/Saul_Kripke)'s work. His areas of concentration are [Analytic philosophy](/source/Analytic_philosophy), [Philosophical logic](/source/Philosophical_logic), [Epistemology](/source/Epistemology), and [Philosophy of Religion](/source/Philosophy_of_Religion), and he is [conservative](/source/Conservatism) and [theist.](/source/Theism)

In his first book, *Hume, Holism, and Miracles*,[3] Johnson purports to have refuted [David Hume](/source/David_Hume)'s popular [argument](/source/Argument) for the irrationality of belief in testimony of miracles (as can be found in his essay entitled "[Of Miracles](/source/Of_Miracles)") as well as several reconstructions of Hume's argument, such as those of philosophers [Jordan Howard Sobel](/source/Jordan_Howard_Sobel), [John Stuart Mill](/source/John_Stuart_Mill), [J. L. Mackie](/source/J._L._Mackie), and [Antony Flew](/source/Antony_Flew). Subsequently, [Robert Fogelin](/source/Robert_Fogelin) (of [Dartmouth College](/source/Dartmouth_College)) responded to Johnson's critique (among others') of Hume in his book *A Defense of Hume on Miracles,*[4] claiming that they had misunderstood Hume's argument..

Johnson's second book, *Truth Without Paradox*,[5] purports to resolve some traditional problems in [Metaphysics](/source/Metaphysics), including the [Liar paradox](/source/Liar_paradox) and the [Lottery paradox](/source/Lottery_paradox). In its fifth and final chapter, Johnson presents an [ontological argument](/source/Ontological_argument) and a historical argument for the existence of [God](/source/God) and the validity of the [Bible](/source/Bible).

## Books

- *Hume, Holism, and Miracles* ([Cornell University Press](/source/Cornell_University_Press), 1999)
- *Truth Without Paradox* (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004)

## See also

- [American philosophy](/source/American_philosophy)
- [List of American philosophers](/source/List_of_American_philosophers)

## References

1. ["David Johnson | Yeshiva University"](https://www.yu.edu/faculty/pages/johnson-david). *www.yu.edu*. Retrieved 2020-11-24.

1. ["Yeshiva University Commentator -- Volume 62, Issue 8"](https://web.archive.org/web/20000312230829/http://www.yucommentator.com:80/archives/v62i8/features/johnson.html). 2000-03-12. Archived from [the original](http://www.yucommentator.com:80/archives/v62i8/features/johnson.html) on 12 March 2000. Retrieved 2020-11-24.

1. Johnson, David, 1952- (1999). *Hume, holism, and miracles*. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3663-X. [OCLC 41834938](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41834938)

1. Fogelin, Robert J. (2003). *A defense of Hume on miracles*. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-2577-6. [OCLC 650305519](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/650305519)

1. Johnson, David, 1952- (2004). *Truth without paradox*. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-8476-9686-3. [OCLC 54865283](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54865283)

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