Astonishment and Science

Science can reveal or conceal the breathtaking wonders of creation. On one hand, knowledge of the natural world can open us up to greater love for the Creator, give us the means of more neighborly care, and fill us with ever-deepening astonishment. On the other hand, knowledge feeding an insatiable hunger for epistemic mastery can become a means of idolatry, hubris, and damage. Crucial to world-respecting science is the role of wonder: curiosity, perplexity, and astonishment. In this volume, philosopher William Desmond explores the relation of the different modes of wonder to modern science. Responding to his thought are twelve thinkers across the domains of science, theology, philosophy, law, poetry, medicine, sociology, and art restoration. Introduction--Paul TysonThe Dearth of Astonishment: On Curiosity, Scientism, and Thinking as Negativity--William DesmondPreparing to Paint the Virgin's Robe--Spike BucklowCultivating Wonder--Steven KnepperThe Astonishment of Philosophy: William Desmond and Isabelle Stengers--Simone KotvaAstonishment and the Social Sciences--Paul TysonCuriosity, Perplexity, and Astonishment in the Natural Sciences--Andrew DavisonScientism as the Dearth of the Nothing--Richard J. ColledgeThe Determinations of Medicine and the Too-Muchness of Being--Jeffrey BishopAttending to Infinitude: Law as in-between the Overdeterminate and Practical Judgment--Jonathan HortonLife's Wonder--Simon OliverBeing in Control--Michael HanbyWondering about the Science/Scientism Distinction--D. C. SchindlerBasil and Desmond on Wonder and the Astonishing Return of Christian Metaphysics--Isidoros C. KatsosThe Children of Wonder: On Scientism and Its Changelings--William Desmond