Balanced Wonder
Experiential Sources of Imagination, Virtue, and Human Flourishing- Authors:
- Publisher:
- 2019
Summary
In Balanced Wonder: Experiential Sources of Imagination, Virtue, and Human Flourishing, Jan B. W. Pedersen digs deep into the alluring topic of wonder and argues in a scholarly yet accessible way that the experience of wonder, when balanced, serves as a strong contributor to human flourishing. Along the way, Pedersen describes seven properties of wonder and shows how wonder it is distinct from other altered states, including awe, horror, the sublime, curiosity, amazement, admiration, and astonishment.
Examining the contribution of both emotion and imagination in the experience of wonder--—filtered through the Neo-Aristotelian work of philosophers Douglas Rasmussen, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Martha Nussbaum--—Pedersen also makes it clear that wonder may contribute to human flourishing in various ways, such as the widening of perception, extension of moral scope or sensitivity, a wondrous afterglow, openness, humility, an imaginative attitude, reverence, and gratitude. Importantly, for wonder to act as a strong contributor to human flourishing one needs to wonder at the right thing, in the right amount, in at the right time, in the right way, and for the right purpose.
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Bibliographic data
- Copyright year
- 2019
- ISBN-Print
- 978-1-4985-8777-8
- ISBN-Online
- 978-1-4985-8778-5
- Publisher
- Lexington, Lanham
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 231
- Product type
- Book Titles
Table of contents
- Contents No access
- Acknowledgments No access
- Introduction No access Pages 1 - 10
- Chapter One: The Lure of Wonder No access Pages 11 - 66
- Chapter Two: Wonder and Emotion No access Pages 67 - 94
- Chapter Three: Wonder and Imagination No access Pages 95 - 130
- Chapter Four: Implications of the Role of Imagination in Wonder No access Pages 131 - 150
- Chapter Five: Wonder, Human Flourishing, and Virtue No access Pages 151 - 202
- Conclusion No access Pages 203 - 214
- Bibliography No access Pages 215 - 224
- Index No access Pages 225 - 230
- About the Author No access Pages 231 - 231





