you may say you can't give into your deepest/most intense feelings because you won't get a high-paying job, but Romantics would say 'screw it' because you only have one life to live → it's fine if relationships fall apart because you're pursuing your passionsĪt the beginning of the episode, Lacy smiles a lot, and so an observer might assume that she is 'following her heart' and doing what makes her happy. (three main layers to this answer) Rousseau talked about how (1) we are all innately good - in that case, if we all act towards our deepest & most intense desires, we wouldn't be hurting others // we want other people to suffer 'Noble savage' (?) Specific kind of goodness: we're happy when others are happy and sad when others are hurt The only reason we lose that capacity (and become comfortable with hurting others, or sitting idly as others are hurt) is because we have been socialized to think that's okay The worst harms to oneself and others are only possible in societies, according to Rousseau (2) People will be selfish in a healthy way & will be compassionate, unless they're socialized out of it (3) What people think may be harmful about embracing Romanticism may actually not be all that harmful → ex. Riggle N (2017) (05:09) On Being Awesome - A Unified Theory of How Not to Suck An accessible and entertaining lens for navigating the ethics of our time, On Being Awesome provides a new and inspiring framework for understanding ourselves and creating meaningful connections in our everyday lives. Put more simply: You suck.įrom street art to folk singers, Proust to the great etiquette writer Emily Post, President Obama to former Los Angeles Dodger Glenn Burke, Riggle draws on pop culture, politics, history, and sports to explore the origins of awesome, and delves into the nuances of what it means to suck and why it’s so important to strive for awesomeness. And if you’re a cheapskate, self-promoter, killjoy, or douchebag, you’re the type of person who shuts social openings down. Grappling with questions such as 'What is the difference between being down and being game, and how do they relate to awesomeness', Riggle leverages his academic experience as a philosophy professor at the University of California, San Diego, to lend. Awesome people excel at creating social openings that encourage expressions of individuality and create community. Riggle's first book thoroughly explores the concept of awesomeness along with its ugly flip side, suckiness. We all know people who are awesome and people who suck, but what do we really mean by these terms? Have you ever been chill or game? Do you rock or rule? If so, then you’re tapped into the ethics of awesomeness.

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.” -Aaron James, author of Assholes: A Theory “Nick Riggle’s fun book is ‘awesome’ by its own definition. In this lively treatise, pro-skater-turned-philosopher Nick Riggle presents a theory of awesomeness (and its opposite, suckiness) that’s both sharply illuminating and more timely than ever

On being awesome riggle