Wonderstruck – How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way we Think

This is a wide-ranging study of the nature of wonder and awe in the Western tradition, also drawing on recent psychological research. Awe is defined as the emotion we sense when we perceive or conceptualise vastness, while wonder arises from a glimpse at the unknown terrain just beyond the fringes of our current understanding. Both demand cognitive accommodation and are epistemic emotions characterised by what the author calls ‘firstness’ - effectively beginner’s mind, interestingly defined by Descartes in his final work on the passions of the soul as ‘that sudden surprise of the soul.’ The evolution of these concepts from Plato and Aristotle onwards is fascinating – the Greek thauma is related to contemplation – then there are two senses of wonder, the second more resonant with curious thought. Both Adam Smith and Kant are also explored, the latter with respect to his thoughts on moral law.

The chapter on magic distinguishes between Renaissance philosophers (see the work of Frances Yates) and modern practitioners with their use of ‘wonder technology,’ a phrase also applied more generally to religion in ‘seeing with firstness.’ In its original sense, the magus was one with esoteric knowledge and power – Bruno writes about this, and in science it is associated with manipulation. There are interesting discussions of the views of Merleau-Ponty and Richard Dawkins with his spiritual naturalism; also of Rachel Carson, who developed her ideas in The Sense of Wonder, although they also play an important role in her other work, including Silent Spring where wonder can help us perceive intrinsic value in Nature. The author argues that it is important to reclaim our sense of wonder and a corresponding ethical sensibility beyond the instrumentalism of modern economics and politics.