Wonder Strikes

<p><b>The first book-length examination of the prominent contemporary philosopher William Desmond's approach to aesthetics art and literature.</b></p><p>William Desmond argues that philosophy religion and art begin in wonder. Desmond is widely recognized for his original metaphysics and his provocative philosophy of religion. Desmond's extensive writings on aesthetics art and literature however have received much less attention. <i>Wonder Strikes</i> is the first book-length examination of these dimensions of Desmond's thought. It offers nuanced commentary on his treatment of beauty and the sublime; his accounts of tragedy and comedy; and his argument that having asked too much of art in modernity we now ask too little. Desmond claims that art philosophy and religion must recover their ancient kinship and their shared roots in wonder if they are to counter the destructive instrumentalism of our time.</p>