David H. Calhoun photo
David H. Calhoun
Associate Professor
Philosophy Department
Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington

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Gonzaga Socratic Club


David H. Calhoun is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where he has been teaching since 1989.  Calhoun has degrees from Louisiana State University (B.A., Philosophy, 1981) and Northwestern University (M.A., Philosophy, 1985, and Ph.D., Philosophy, 1989).  He regularly teaches courses on ancient philosophy, philosophy of human nature, and existentialism.  Over the past decade he has developed a course on Christianity and Science that explores the origins of western science in connection with Greek philosophy and Christian theology and culture and critically examines the popular view that science is at war with Christianity.  He and his colleague Brian Clayton have been team-teaching philosophy of human nature in summers since 1994, and recently began offering a course on philosophy in film.
    Calhoun has published articles and book reviews on philosophical theology, ethics, and philosophy of education and spoken at conferences on topics such as human nature / philosophical anthropology, New Atheism, Christian themes in film and literature, and Christianity and science.  Current projects include the philosophical underpinnings of human dignity, philosophical and theological themes in the films of Terrence Malick, and virtue and character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.  Calhoun directs the Gonzaga Socratic Club, which promotes philosophical inquiry into the Christian worldview after the model of the Oxford Socratic Club, which was presided over by Christian scholar and apologist C. S. Lewis in the 1940s and 50s.

Recent publications:

“Who Has Eyes to See, Let Him See: Terrence Malick as Natural Theologian.”  Theology and the Films of Terrence Malick, ed. Christopher B. Barnett and Clark J. Elliston.  Routledge, 2016.  66-98.  (publisher info / Amazon book listing)

“From Solitary Individualism to Post-Christian Stoic Existentialism: Quests for Community, Moral Agency, and Transcendence in the Films of Clint Eastwood.”  The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood, ed. Brian Clayton and Richard McClelland.  University of Kentucky, 2014.  13-40.  (Amazon book listing)

“The Euthyphro Problem.” New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and Philosophy. Ed. Robert L. Fastiggi. 4 vols. Detroit: Gale, 2013.  Vol. 2: 519-20.

“Prospects for Human Dignity before and after Darwin.” Human Dignity in Bioethics: From Worldviews to the Public Square, ed. Steven C. Dilley and Nathan J. Palpant.  Routledge Annals of Bioethics.  Routledge, 2012.  166-198.  (Amazon book listing)

“Human Exceptionalism and the Imago Dei: The Tradition of Human Dignity.”  Human Dignity in Bioethics: From Worldviews to the Public Square, ed. Steven C. Dilley and Nathan J. Palpant.  Routledge Annals of Bioethics.  Routledge, 2012.  19-45.  (Amazon book listing)


Recent Conference and Public Presentations:

“Distinctly Christian Higher Education in Secularizing (and Already Secular) Institutions,” Higher Learning: 2016 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Baylor University (Waco, TX), October 27-29, 2016.  (presentation handout)

“The Ascent of Eros in Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder,” The Thought of Terrence Malick, Gettysburg College Philosophy and Film Seminar, Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA), April 8-9, 2016.  (proposal abstract)

“How Films Can Argue, and Even Evangelize: The Case of Terrence Malick.”  Plenary lecture at “Defend the Faith” conference. School of Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (New Orleans, LA). January 7, 2016. (link to video)

 “Apologetics, Culture, and Science.”  Lecture series at “Defend the Faith” conference: (1) “The Epistemology of Religious Belief: Evidence and Interpretive Stance”  (2) “Pascal’s Anthropological Apologetic: Beyond the Wager”  (3) “Film Apologetics: Aggressive Naturalism in Popular Film”  (4) “Christianity and Science: Creationism and Other Christian Models.”  School of Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (New Orleans, LA).  January 5-7, 2016.

“Freedom and the Human Practice of Giving Reasons,” For Freedom Set Free, Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture 2015 Fall Conference (South Bend, IN), November 20, 2015.

“Human Reason and the Limits of Naturalism: From Darwin’s Doubt to C. S. Lewis’ Argument from Reason.”  Plenary lecture at “Defend the Faith” conference. School of Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (New Orleans, LA). January 7, 2015.

“Cinematic Natural Theology: Design and Providence in Contemporary Film,” Faith and Film: 2014 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Baylor University (Waco, TX), October 23-25, 2014

“Idols to an Ill-Known God: Signs of Grace in Contemporary Film.”  Plenary lecture at “Defend the Faith” conference. School of Apologetics. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (New Orleans, LA). January 9, 2014 (link to video)

“Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Anthropology,” Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for our Time?: 2013 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Baylor University (Waco, TX), October 31–November 2, 2013 (proposal abstract)

“Darwin, Human Distinctiveness, and Human Dignity.”  Biology and and the God of Abraham lecture series.  Gonzaga Faith and Reason Institute.  April 17, 2013 (link to video)


Selected Recent Course Syllabi:

First Year Seminar (FYS): Conversion and Personal Transformation (draft for Fall 2016)

Philosophy of Human Nature (Spring 2016)

Ancient Philosophy (Fall 2014)

Philosophical Reflections on Christianity and Science (Spring 2016)


Other Writings:
Theses on Jeannot on the Subject of Jesuit Catholic Identity.  A reflection on basic principle of Jesuit Catholic higher education in the modern context, spurred by Philosophy Department colleague Tom Jeannot (Spring 2014).“Galileo as Scientific Martyr?  Examining the Myth,” The Crux 1.1 (November 2013):25-29, 31.
Prayer for the Beginning of the Academic Year, Invocation for Fall Faculty Conference, Gonzaga University, August 29, 2013.


David Calhoun's Curriculum Vitae (updated January 2016)

[Gonzaga University]  [Gonzaga Philosophy Department]  [Gonzaga University Blackboard site]  [Gonzaga Socratic Club]
 

Contact Information

Department of Philosophy 
  Campion 211
(1208 N Standard St, on the circle driveway leading to the east end of College Hall)

509.313.6743 
Campus Extension 6743 
Email: calhoun at (use the "at" sign) gem.gonzaga.edu
AD Box 50, Gonzaga University 
Department of Philosophy 
Gonzaga University 
Spokane, WA  99258


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This page last updated on November 23, 2016.