Ball State University is very fortunate to be the home of the David Owsley Museum of Art, which is real Muncie gem. In part because I organized a field trip to the museum last spring for the students in Philosophy 320: Emotions, Character, and Moral Responsibility, I was invited to give a presentation to the friends of the museum (the David Owsley Museum of Art Alliance) on February 14, 2018.

During that presentation, I explained how I’ve used the museum’s collection as a pedagogical tool in philosophy and how my students’ experiences at the museum illuminate some of the research I’ve done regarding the emotion awe (which, I’ve argued, we can feel even about abstract objects). But the main argument that I made in my presentation was that because (a) philosophy is particularly well-suited to spark feelings of awe in those who study it, (b) recent empirical research from a variety of sources shows that feeling awe has a variety of highly valuable effects, therefore (c) we have good (and under-recognized) reasons to support access to philosophical education for all students.

I had a great time meeting the friends of the museum, who raised all sorts of interesting questions and comments during our time together. I also want to express special thanks to Tania Said for the invitation and support!