Let us wonder

Páll Skúlason, my teacher and later Rector of the University of Iceland, once said that philosophy begins in wonder before the world: wonder that there is something rather than nothing. This had a profound effect on me.

Páll seemed to have made this thought part of his being. He had extraordinary warmth and presence. His interest in people and the world was sincere, and he told me that he thought about philosophy and his place in the world every single day.

Once he told me about trying to start a philosophical conversation with his family at a Christmas gathering. He laughed at their limited interest, though he was still a little surprised by it. This was one of the wonderful things about Páll. For him, philosophical thought belonged everywhere, including Christmas gatherings.

Páll also wrote about the relationship between humans and nature. He understood that we are part of the world we strive to understand.

Perhaps the most important thing Páll taught me was that remaining interested in thinking and understanding depends on never losing our capacity for wonder. Wonder gives us the inspiration to question what seems self-evident and see the world anew.

Páll's warmth was part of the lesson. Through who he was, I learned that thought can be a form of attention directed towards people and the world. No academic method can teach that.

Wonder gives this attention energy. It makes philosophy a way of connecting with the world, beyond an academic exercise.

When we nurture our capacity for wonder, we also reject the idea that there is nothing remarkable left to discover in the world.