I detail how our interest in the 'ethics of awesomeness' has influenced a range of post-’60s cultural practices, including art, charity, athletics, public life, and others. This is partly an aesthetic affair, which flavors the modes of response and critique that constitute the normative framework. Old modes of critique fall short because contemporary social life embodies a concern for cultivating, expressing, and appreciating individuality. ‘Sucks’ and ‘awesome’ (and their ilk) capture a special mode of interpersonal critique. A basic idea is that the normative character of contemporary social life cannot be fully understood in traditional philosophical terms: ‘obligation’, ‘demand’, ‘duty’, ‘right’, ‘just’, ‘requirement’.

But don’t miss its profound ambition, which is to show how philosophy unearths the structure of ordinary language, defines the meaning of life in routine business, and poses the question of how best to live.Abstract I develop a theory of social virtue around the concept of a 'social opening' and argue that a range of contemporary terms track various modes of success and failure with respect to social openings: ‘awesome’, ‘down’, ‘chill’, ‘sucks’, ‘wack’, ‘lame’, ‘douchebag’, and others. “Nick Riggle’s fun book is ‘awesome’ by its own definition. *Bonus PDF Included with Awesomeness/Suckiness Chart On Being Awesome articulates a singular and gripping cultural ideal and provides a new and inspiring framework for understanding friendship, success, and happiness in our everyday lives.

What can the invention of the high five and the history of “cool” tell us about the origins of awesome? Can introverts be awesome? How do our expectations of awesome relate to race, gender, and sexuality? How is our desire for awesomeness shaping our cultural landscape-art, altruism, athletics, and public life? These are just a few of the questions Riggle explores in this accessible, philosophical road trip through the ethos of our time. To be down, game, chill, basic, wack, or a preference dictator are just a handful of ways we can create, respond to, or fail to take up social openings in the office, in public, or with our friends and loved ones. We suck when we foil their attempts at creative community building. At the core of his work is the idea that awesome people are exemplars of social creativity. Download and start listening now Nick Riggle’s fun book is ‘awesome’ by its own definition.

Bonus PDF Included with Awesomeness/Suckiness Chart. A lively philosophical exploration of what it means to be awesome and not suck, and a plea for more awesomeness in our personal, social, and public lives In this engaging, fun, and astute investigation of a thoroughly contemporary condition, philosopher and former pro skater Nick Riggle argues that our collective interest in being awesome (and not sucking) marks a new era in American culture, one that is shaped by relatively recent social, political, and technological shifts. On Being Awesome articulates a singular and gripping cultural ideal and provides a new and inspiring framework for understanding friendship, success, and happiness in our everyday lives.

On being awesome riggle