Awe is believed to be a moral emotion that is "other-praising." Who it was designed to praise is contested.

The intensity of awe in the rare moments it is experienced suggest it is an important emotion.

For much of history, gazing at nature in awe was both theological and scientifically imbued.

The eclipse observed throughout Europe this week evoked different emotions among those who witnessed it, including awe. Awe is believed to be an emotion, a moral emotion, and according to some, part of the “other-praising” branch of the moral emotions. We know awe is important because moments when we truly feel it can create lifelong memories. The most intense feeling of awe that I experienced on the edge of Ireland’s Gaeltacht, among the wildness of Galway, was an experience of awe that aligns with one of the most common elicitors: witnessing something powerful in nature.

Any self-respecting discussion about awe includes Keltner and Haidt’s (2003) seminal article. The authors pioneered the psychological literature on the topic, drawing from a range of disciplines to compose what they felt was a sound definition of awe and a classification of its manifestations. In sum, they center two key experiences within awe, experiencing a vastness and a consequent need to accommodate what is experienced as it cannot be assimilated within existing cognitive structures. They also delineate versions of awe that can occur, including those arising from threatening experiences (e.g., witnessing a tornado) and transcendent experiences (e.g., feeling small within the cosmos). While........

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