astonishment

Jesus concludes His masterful sermon with a blue collar analogy. Two builders with similar blueprints, materials, methods and effort have drastically different endings because of their choice in foundation. Jesus’ conclusion is simple. The two builders are listeners and the all-important foundation is what they do with Jesus’ words.

The Dearth of Astonishment and Thinking as Negativity Philosophers since Plato and Aristotle have emphasised that our thinking about reality starts in wonder, but what does that mean? Is wonder some subjective fluffy feeling, an emotional response to particular aspects of reality, or something more vital, complex and even ontological? William Desmond will explore diverse facets of wonder as astonishment to help us appreciate the many aspects of its importance and the dangers of its absence or suppression; his lecture will be responded to by Catherine Pickstock. This event took place on 23 February 2018 and is part of the VHI 2017-18 series on Grammars of Wonder. For more details visit: http://www.vhi.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/events

The Dearth of Astonishment and Thinking as Negativity Philosophers since Plato and Aristotle have emphasised that our thinking about reality starts in wonder, but what does that mean? Is wonder some subjective fluffy feeling, an emotional response to particular aspects of reality, or something more vital, complex and even ontological? William Desmond will explore diverse facets of wonder as astonishment to help us appreciate the many aspects of its importance and the dangers of its absence or suppression; his lecture will be responded to by Catherine Pickstock. This event took place on 23 February 2018 and is part of the VHI 2017-18 series on Grammars of Wonder. For more details visit: http://www.vhi.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/events