Overview

I am a philosopher, and I teach in the Department of Philosophy at the University of San Diego, where I am Associate Professor. I have a PhD in philosophy from New York University and a BA in philosophy from UC Berkeley. I specialize in aesthetics, while drawing on and contributing to value theory, philosophy of language, social philosophy, and the history of philosophy. I write for both academic and general audiences.

My academic writing has been published by Oxford University Press, The Philosophical Review, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Philosophers' Imprint, The Philosophical Quarterly, and other outlets. I edit the Aesthetics area for Philosophy Compass.

My public-facing writing has been published with Penguin Books, Basic Books, The New York Times, McSweeney’s, LitHub, Aeon, Psyche, and others. My third book This Beauty: A Philosophy of Being Alive came out with Basic Books in 2022. It explores and affirms the thought that loving beauty can make your unchosen existence worth embracing. See some adapted essays in The New York Times and Psyche, and see reviews in The Times Literary Supplement and Shelf Awareness. If you want to know about the nature of awesomeness and suckiness, read my first book On Being Awesome: A Unified Theory of How Not to Suck (Penguin, 2017), read this essay in Aeon, or listen to me on the radio show Philosophy Talk. I wrote my second book with Dominic McIver Lopes and Bence Nanay: it’s about Aesthetic Life and Why It Matters. And read about my past as a professional rollerblader in Scientific American. 

The Latest

• My paper “Aesthetic Value and the Practice of Aesthetic Valuing,” was published in The Philosophical Review [here]

• My paper “Autonomy and Aesthetic Valuing,” was published in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research [here]

• At the upcoming American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, I’ll be commenting on Sherri Irvin’s excellent book, IMMATERIAL, on the importance of rules in contemporary art.

• There will be an author-meets-critics session on my book THIS BEAUTY at the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting, with critics James Ryerson (New York Times) and Jonathan Fine (Georgetown)

Contact

My CV is here. I can be reached by email at nickriggle at gmail dot com or find me not using Twitter @nickriggle 

My literary agent is Melissa Flashman at Janklow & Nesbit Associates. For speaking inquiries, please contact BrightSight Speakers.