Abstract This paper explores the connection between wonder and meaning, in particular ‘the meaning of life’, a connection that, despite strong intrinsic connections between wonder and the (philosophical) search for meaning has not yet received any sustained attention. Does wonder ‘merely’ inspire our search for meaning, or does it also point the way towards meaning? In exploring this question I first engage with Hannah Arendt, then examine the suggestion (by Josef Pieper and Rachel Carson, among others) that the meaning wonder points us to lies in connecting us with the mystery of existence. Can there be meaning in mystery, or is wonder––as a state of being lost for words in the face of mystery––rather antithetical to meaning? This discussion leads to the idea, emphasized in recent writing on wonder, that wonder (also) depends on the meaning we ascribe to things. In the final section I discuss wonder as a potential source of meaning in life, then return to the question whether it can also point towards a deeper meaning of life. I conclude that no purely rational justification can be given for this view, but that this need not detract from the importance of wonder in our lives.

中文翻译：

---

奇迹，神秘与意义

摘要本文探讨了奇迹与意义之间的联系，特别是“生命的意义”，尽管奇迹与（意义上的）对意义的寻求之间有着很强的内在联系，但这一联系尚未得到持续的关注。难道“仅仅是”会激发我们对意义的追求，还是它也为意义的发展指明了方向？在探讨这个问题时，我首先与汉娜·阿伦特（Hannah Arendt）进行接触，然后研究暗示（意思是“意义在于指出我们将我们与存在之谜联系起来”）的建议（约瑟夫·皮耶珀（Josef Pieper）和瑞秋·卡森（Rachel Carson）等人）。神秘中可能存在意义，还是奇迹（作为面对神秘事物而被单词迷失的状态）与意义相反？经过讨论，我们产生了这个想法，在最近有关奇迹的文章中强调了这一点，这个奇迹（也）取决于我们赋予事物的含义。在最后一部分中，我将探讨奇迹作为生命意义的潜在来源，然后回到问题是否也可以指向生命的更深层意义。我的结论是，不能为这种观点提供纯粹的理性辩解，但这不必减损我们生活中奇迹的重要性。