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 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 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 the right time, in the right way, and for the right purpose.
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In Balanced Wonder, Jan B. W. Pedersen digs deep into the alluring topic of wonder, in dialogue with Neo-Aristotelian philosophers, arguing that the experience of wonder, when balanced, serves as a strong contributor to human flourishing.
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Chapter 1: The Lure of Wonder Chapter 2: Wonder and Emotion Chapter 3: Wonder and Imagination Chapter 4: Implications of the Role of Imagination in Wonder Chapter 5: Wonder, Human Flourishing, and Virtue Conclusion: Wondering about Wonder
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Intellectual luminaries from Socrates to Einstein have believed that wonder is the driving force behind humanity’s creative impulses.  Jan Pedersen strengthens this argument by explaining how wonder incites the imagination in ways that help us envision worlds that “might be.”  In doing so, Balanced Wonder demonstrates philosophy’s relevance to contemporary investigations of how we might optimally engage life.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781498587778
Publisert
2019-10-15
Utgiver
Vendor
Lexington Books
Vekt
553 gr
Høyde
227 mm
Bredde
161 mm
Dybde
24 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
244

Biographical note

Jan B. W. Pedersen is lecturer at University College Diakonissestiftelsen.