No art without wonder? Justifying modern aesthetics and poetics in a double-edged emotion. The notion that wonder is the beginning of philosophy is an academic commonplace. However, Nicola Gess demonstrates in her new book that it is also fundamental to the foundation of modern aesthetics and poetics. Through examples from literature, theater, and philosophy from the 18th century to the present, she asks: Wonder - what does it mean today, what did it mean then? What did poets and thinkers aim to promote with it? Moral improvement, respect for the artist, the quest for knowledge, training of the nerves, stimulation of the imagination, or even political protest? What rhetorical and literary tricks did they employ to evoke wonder in their audience? And what is the relevance of wonder for art and art reflection today? Engaging closely with an aesthetics of affirmation.