CALL FOR PAPERS

Memorial Book Symposium

Abstract: Wonder and awe lie at the heart of life’s most profound questions. Wonderstruck shows how these emotions respond to our fundamental need to make sense of ourselves and everything around us, and how they enable us to engage with the world as if we are experiencing it for the first time.

Drawing on the latest psychological insights on emotions, Helen De Cruz argues that wonder and awe are emotional drives that motivate us to inquire and discover new things, and that humanity has deliberately nurtured these emotions in cultural domains such as religion, science, and magic. Tracing how wonder and awe unify philosophy, the humanities, and the sciences, De Cruz provides new perspectives on figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, William James, Rachel Carson, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Abraham Heschel. Along the way, she explains how these singular emotions empower us to be open-minded, to experience joy and hope, and to be resilient in the face of personal troubles and global challenges.

Taking inspiration from Descartes’s portrayal of wonder as “that sudden surprise of the soul,” this illuminating book reveals how wonder and awe are catalysts that can help us reclaim what makes life worth living and preserve the things we find wonderful and valuable in our lives.

Author Bio: Helen De Cruz (1978-2025) was the Danforth Chair in the Humanities and professor of philosophy at Saint Louis University. Her books include Religious Disagreement and (with Johan De Smedt) A Natural History of Natural Theology.

Guest Editor Bio: Alexus McLeod is professor of religious studies at Indiana University. His books include Myth and Identity in the Martial Arts, An Introduction to Mesoamerican Philosophy, and The Dao of Madness: Mental Illness and Self-Cultivation in Early Chinese Philosophy and Medicine.

The Society for Philosophy of Emotion and the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion (JPE) are organizing a memorial book symposium on Professor De Cruz's book, Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think. The book symposium will include an introduction by guest editor Alexus McLeod, and a number of commentaries that highlight the positive contributions of Professor De Cruz's book, especially with the aim of helping move the discourse on wonder and awe forward. We are looking for commentators for the SPE's 2026 Pacific APA (virtual only) affiliated group session, and commentators for a subsequent publication in the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion, including a JPE podcast edition. (No additional work beyond seeing your commentary through to publication with the JPE will be required for the podcast edition.) Because the JPE requires the use of Google workspace tools, you will be required to log-in with a Google account to access the form. If you do not use your Gmail account on a regular basis, we recommend you set your Gmail to forward your emails to the email that you regularly use so you do not miss any correspondence from us. If you are interested in participating as a commentator, please read the additional details provided below and complete the APA Affiliated Group Session and JPE Book Symposium Interest Form, which includes uploading a copy of your CV, by October 10, 2025. We will contact you by October 17, 2025, with a decision regarding your expressed interest and any further details. 

Society for Philosophy of Emotion

Accepted commentators will be invited to present their commentaries during virtual (online only) book symposium, as a part of a Society for Philosophy of Emotion (SPE)-American Philosophical Association (APA) affiliated group session at the 2026 Pacific APA, which will be completely virtual. Commentaries for this book symposium are due to the author six (6) weeks before the SPE-APA session date, and author replies are due (3) weeks before the session date, in accordance with the APA meeting participation guidelines and prior to the due date for the JPE book symposium. 

Please note that commentators who agree to participate in this virtual (online only) book symposium will not be eligible for any funding assistance from the APA since only those who are presenting in an APA main program event are eligible for such funding. However, participants can also submit a paper for or agree to comment for an APA main program event and apply for APA funding if they are accepted, since APA main program participants are allowed to also participate in affiliated group sessions without any restrictions. Organizers will also be informed to avoid any scheduling conflicts. Participants would also be required to register for the 2026 Pacific APA conference, and be a member of the SPE at the time of their participation, which includes a one-time JPE submission fee waiver. An annual SPE membership is $35, with a discounted rate of $10 for graduate students and underemployed scholars. 

Journal of Philosophy of Emotion

Commentaries for the JPE will be due one month after the Society for Philosophy of Emotion (SPE)-American Philosophical Association (APA) affiliated group session for this book symposium (read below). We encourage a diversity of scholars of all ranks who are interested in participating as a commentator to respond to this CFP, provided that they are willing and able to commit to fulfilling the expectations set by the JPE's submission guidelines and the JPE’s double-anonymous peer review process. Please refer to past issues of the JPE for examples, and all submissions must adhere to the JPE’s style guideline (which includes a Google Doc manuscript template), and note that authors are responsible for providing all necessary DOIs and appropriately formatting their references. All contributors are also responsible for copyediting their own submissions and providing any requested citation information, although the JPE will also conduct a preliminary review and copyedit check of all submissions prior to sending them to peer review. No submission will be sent to peer review without the appropriate formatting, in accordance with the JPE style guidelines. The JPE also requires a submission fee of $35 or you can use your SPE one-time JPE submission fee waiver. 

Selection Criteria and Peer Refereeing

Commentators will be selected not only based on their qualifications, but also based on their cooperative compliance and the consideration for the value of diversity and inclusiveness among equally qualified commentators. Potential contributors are also welcome to let us know in their letter of interest in refereeing this book symposium if for some reason they were not invited to contribute a commentary, but would still like to contribute to the book symposium, or if they would rather referee the book symposium. All referees may also choose to be publicly acknowledged in a subsequent winter issue of the JPE. Referee's will also receive a free membership to the Society for Philosophy of Emotion, which includes a one time author submission fee waiver for the JPE, for the year of their membership.

SPE Membership Fee/JPE Manuscript Submission Fee

The JPE is an independently published, open-access journal, operating as a Public Charity under the US Treasury, 501(3)(c), 509(a)(2), and the SPE is an affiliate organization operating under the JPE's business license. All manuscript submission fees and membership fees go toward paying for operating costs and providing need based subventions to facilitate diverse and inclusive participation. Our completely transparent Financial Report is also made available for your review.