The Experience of Enchantment and the Sense of Wonder

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper begins by drawing on accounts of enchantment as wonder by three authors (Alain-Fournier, Aldous Huxley and J.R.R. Tolkien) to explore its basic characteristics and dynamics. It then draws a contrast with the disenchantment attending will and the will-to-power, noting the internal affinity of the latter with the project of modernity and its contrast with enchantment as a non-modern experience. It then proceeds to a critique of three influential philosophers’ portrayals of enchantment (Philip Fisher, Jane Bennett and Akeel Bilgrami, as well as Charles Taylor), which it faults for not paying closer attention to the implications of the experience of enchantment. It closes with a plea for philosophy aligned with the humanities rather than sciences.