Reclaiming Wonder

'In this wide-ranging exploration of wonder - its philosophic history, its psychological manifestations, its political implications - Lloyd reclaims its ancient connection to the liberating activities of the imagination. She traces the transformation of Platonic and Aristotelian wonder as the beginning of inquiry to Flaubert's evocation of its stupefaction and Arendt's solemn attentiveness. The book concludes with a sensitive account of the role of wonder in facing the impasses of political dogmas as well as in prompting their imaginative re-visions. Lloyd uses her reclamation of wonder to illuminate our bewilderment, despair. and inventiveness in the face of radical Otherness. ' Amélie Rorty, Harvard Medical School and Tufts University A philosophical history of wonder, its present condition and its future potential Genevieve Lloyd illuminates and challenges some perplexing aspects of contemporary attitudes to wonder. Central to her argument is the claim that wonder has come to be largely eclipsed by the allure of the notion of the Sublime - a concept closely associated with Romantic Idealism. In her path to reclaim wonder she moves between philosophical and literary sources, drawing especially on Flaubert's responses to Romanticism and his related treatment of stupidity, which have influenced the thought of Jean-Paul Sartre, Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. She also reaches into contemporary debates on refugees, secularisation and climate change. Lloyd offers us a renewed sense of wonder - reconnected with its philosophical history - and one that plays a significant role in contemporary social critique. Genevieve Lloyd is an Emeritus Professor in Philosophy at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress. com ISBN 978-1-4744-3310-5 [PPC] ISBN 978-1-4744-3311-2 [cover] Barcode