Originally published at The Catholic Thing
Wonder is the beginning of philosophy. So thought Aristotle. St. Thomas Aquinas thought so, too, since wonder is a kind of desire for knowledge. This desire arises in us when we observe an effect of which the cause is either unknown to us or which surpasses our understanding. Descartes called wonder the “first passion,” because it comes upon us unawares and before we know if the object of our wonder is beneficial to us or not.
Sometimes, in English, we speak of wonder in a milder way, as something akin to curiosity. One might wonder what a distant loved one is up to or wonder what is for dinner tonight. But we distinguish between wonder, as an act of pondering some hypothetical, and wonder in the sense of encountering something which lifts our minds and prompts us to ask how and why.
Wonder often comes upon us when we encounter something new and unexpected. But wonder usually involves something more than newness. It includes a recognition of some other quality beyond mere novelty; we all know the difference between wonder and surprise. Besides, we can experience wonder at things that are not really new to us. Any particularly beautiful sunset
