Awe

While interest in the emotion of awe has surged in psychology, philosophers have yet to devote a single self-standing article to awe’s conceptual contours and moral standing. Chapter 8 rectifies this imbalance and begins to make up for the unwarranted philosophical neglect. In order to do so, awe is given the standard Aristotelian treatment to uncover its conceptual contours and moral relevance—although Aristotle did not himself explicitly identify awe. The chapter critiques and proposes to improve upon existing psychological conceptual analyses of awe; probes the question why Aristotle ignored it; addresses an often-presumed link between awe and humility, bearing on its moral status; and finally explores some educational contours of awe.