Scott Davidson
Specializations
- Continental Philosophy
- Social and Political Philosophy
Research Interests
Dr. Davidson’s research focuses on leading figures in contemporary French philosophy, such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Emmanuel Levinas, Michel Henry and Paul Ricoeur, to name a few. His work explores how recent developments in French theory can yield new insights into topics in ethics, political philosophy, the philosophy of law, technology, and the philosophy of embodiment.
Dr. Davidson’s forthcoming book, Pathos and Praxis: The Phenomenology of Life in Michel Henry and Paul Ricoeur (2025), proposes an integrated phenomenology of life that is more compelling than what either thinker offers on their own, and in so doing, discloses a new phenomenological significance of life. Davidson is co-editor of the The Michel Henry Reader as well as the translator of four books and numerous articles by Michel Henry into English. In addition, he has edited five books on the work of Paul Ricoeur, including most recently a three-volume series on Ricoeur’s early philosophy of the will. Samples of his own writings are available on his page on Academia.edu.
Recent Publications
Pathos and Praxis: The Phenomenology of Life in Michel Henry and Paul Ricoeur, Indiana University Press, forthcoming 2025. https://iupress.org/9780253072337/pathos-and-praxis/
The Michel Henry Reader, Northwestern University Press, 2019. http://www.nupress.northwestern.edu/content/michel-henry-reader
A Companion to Ricoeur’s The Symbolism of Evil, Lexington Books, 2020. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498587143/A-Companion-to-Ricoeurs-The-Symbolism-of-Evil
A Companion to Ricoeur’s Fallible Man, Lexington Books, 2019. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498587129/A-Companion-to-Ricoeur%27s-Fallible-Man
A Companion to Ricoeur’s Freedom and Nature, Lexington Books, 2018. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498578882/A-Companion-to-Ricoeur's-Freedom-and-Nature
Teaching Interests
Dr. Davidson’s teaching responsibilities at WVU include the areas of ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law. His interest in these areas is framed by Paul Ricoeur’s question concerning how to live “the good life, with and for others, within just institutions.” And he is especially interested in mentoring pre-law students who are studying philosophy with the goal of pursuing a career in law. In the future, he hopes to develop seminar courses focused on specific figures of interest, such as Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, and Gilles Deleuze.