Philosophy originates in wonder that generates sensitive thinking, also called ‘aesthetic thinking’—an expanded mode of thought that bridges and dissolves contradictions. This book questions the disregard for such thinking in modern society, including the neglect of it in most educational institutions and contemporary research. It describes what it means to think in an aesthetic way when ‘aesthetic’ is synonymous with ‘sensitive’ (not ‘sensuous’), including how such thinking may foster human well-being and develop our notions of history, hospitality, freedom, and the good life. The formative nature of aesthetic thinking is presented alongside the attestation of its relevance in many disciplines and a broad spectrum of society—in border studies, education policy, and social work, and in life in general.

Poetic Inclinations: Ethics, History, Philosophy is related to the simultaneously published monograph Imaginative Moods: Aesthetics, Religion, Philosophy. Together they constitute a comprehensive presentation in English of the author’s philosophy of experience, which includes new ways of conceiving of and applying aesthetics, hermeneutics, and phenomenology, and of integrating these disciplines, as well as theology.