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’. 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.
0 kommentar(er)
