Gordon Graham (born 1949) is Chair of the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Foundation, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and the Arts at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

in the USA, and a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, Scotland's premier academy of science and letters.

Education and career

Born in Ireland and educated in Ireland, Scotland and England, he taught philosophy in Scotland at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

(from 1975 to 1995). He was Regius Professor of Moral Philosophy at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

(from 1996 to 2006) before taking up his post as Henry Luce III Professor of Philosophy and the Arts at

(2006–18). He has published extensively on a wide range of philosophical topics relating to art, education, ethics, politics, religion, and technology. He has a special interest in the Scottish philosophical tradition, and was founding Editor of the Journal of Scottish Philosophy. From 2007 to 2018, he was Director the Center for the Study of Scottish Philosophy at Princeton, and on his retirement was honoured with the 'Life Time Achievement Award' of the Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society. From 2008 to 2015 he was Director of The Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology. An Anglican priest ordained in the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

, he was licensed in the

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey forms part of Province II of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is made up of the southern and central New Jersey counties of Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth ...

from 2007 to 2018, and now holds a warrant in the

Diocese of Edinburgh The Diocese of Edinburgh is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers the City of Edinburgh, the Lothians, the Scottish Borders, Borders and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The diocesan centre is St Mary's Cathedra ...

. In 1990 he was Sheffer Visiting Professor of Religion at The

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

, and in 2004 Stanton Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Gordon Graham was Director of the St Andrews University Music Centre from 1991 to 1995, taught as an adjunct professor of Sacred Music at the

Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music, currently operating on the campus of Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences (the college under which the historic institution has ...

in 2010–12, and since 2018 has directed the Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts in the Fringe. He has written several texts for hymns and anthems. Two, set to music by the composer

Paul Mealor Paul Mealor CLJ FLSW (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus, both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet ''Ubi Caritas et Amor'' was performed at the wedding ...

– Lux benigna' and 'Anthem to St David' – have been published by Novello. In 2019, the Institute for the Study of Scottish Philosophy announced the Gordon Graham Prize in Scottish Philosophy. The winner of the competition was

Enrico Galvagni Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from '' Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri (French), Enr ...

, whose paper was published in the Journal of Scottish Philosophy.

Books

David Hume and the Aberdeen Philosophers (Edinburgh University Press, 2025) The Hope of the Poor: philosophy, religion and economic development (Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2023) Scottish Philosophy After the Enlightenment (Edinburgh University Press, 2022) Philosophy, Art and Religion: understanding faith and creativity (Cambridge University Press, 2017) Wittgenstein and Natural Religion (Oxford University Press, 2014) The Re-enchantment of the World: art versus religion (Oxford University Press, 2007, pb 2010) Theories of Ethics (New York: Routledge 2010) Ethics and International Relations 2nd revised edition, (Malden MA and Oxford: Blackwell 2008) Universities: the recovery of an idea 2nd revised edition (Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2008). The Case Against the Democratic State Exeter: (Imprint Academic, 2002) Genes: a philosophical inquiry, (London: Routledge 2002)Translations: Portuguese (2005) Philosophy of the Arts 3rd revised edition, (London and New York: Routledge, 2004) 1st edition 1997, 2nd edition 2001 Translations: Portuguese (2001); Hungarian (2000); Serbian (2000) Russian (2001); Persian (2002) The Internet: a philosophical inquiry, (London: Routledge 1999, reprinted 2000, 2001, 2002) Translations: Dutch (2001); Spanish (2001); Greek (2002); Korean (2003) Evil and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2001) The Shape of the Past: a philosophical approach to history, (Oxford University Press, 1997) Living the Good Life: an introduction to moral philosophy, (New York: Paragon Press 1990, reprinted 1991, 1994) The Idea of Christian Charity: a critique of some contemporary conceptions (Indiana, Notre Dame University Press) Contemporary Social Philosophy, (Oxford: Blackwell 1988, reprinted 1990, 1991, 1994) Translations: Italian (1991); Chinese (1995) Politics in its Place: a study of six ideologies, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986) Historical Explanation Reconsidered, Scots Philosophical Monographs No.4 (Aberdeen: University Press, 1983)

References

External links

L. Gordon Graham
21st-century British philosophers British philosophy academics Living people 1949 births British philosophers of religion British philosophers of art Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Princeton Theological Seminary faculty Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society {{reli-philo-bio-stub