Curiosity as a Practice and the Capacity to Connect with philosopher Perry Zurn (from the archive)

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From the archive.

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Andrea introduces an archive episode of Love and Philosophy featuring Perry Zurn, provost and associate professor of philosophy at American University about the book Curious Minds, coauthored with Dani Bassett. The intro previews an upcoming season launch with Janet Levin.

In the following conversation, Perry links curiosity to desire and love, arguing love can guide curiosity away from appropriative or objectifying inquiry. Zurn reframes curiosity not as an individual desire to fill information gaps but as a social practice and a “capacity to connect,” drawing on network science, complexity, and ecological aesthetics through the idea of “edge work.” Andrea and Perry discuss diverse styles of curiosity (busy body, hunter, dancer), curiosity’s role in shifting knowledge networks and methods, interdisciplinary resistance, and how breaking “edges” or “cracks” can be both destructive and creative, relating curiosity to hope and to more-than-human ecologies. Perry also describes the book’s artwork by Poonam Mistry and the dedication to children who ask whether things must be this way.

Perry Zurn's website

Curious Minds: Buy the book

00:00 Archive Season Preview
00:56 Why Curiosity Matters
03:19 Support And Welcome
03:53 Love And Curiosity
06:28 Origins Of Curious Minds
08:51 Curiosity As Practice
11:24 Edge Work Explained
15:18 Pioneering And Ethics
17:39 Complexity And The Brain
21:27 Styles Of Curiosity
26:08 Curiosity Across Divides
30:12 Walking As Knowing
32:31 Methods As Paths
36:34 Why New Paths Threaten
39:38 Dead Ends And Branching
40:33 Connectional Curiosity
42:48 More Than Human Curiosity
47:29 Cracks Hope And Destruction
51:35 Daring To Disturb
53:47 Art And Dedication
56:45 Closing Reflections

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