Awkwardness: A Theory

Awkwardness offers an account of the moral psychology and normative psychology of awkwardness. The book begins by looking at the phenomenon itself, arguing that awkwardness is a property of social interactions for which we lack a social script, resulting in feelings of uncertainty, self-consciousness, and discomfort. While awkwardness is often treated as a subtype or symptom of embarrassment, it’s actually a distinct phenomenon, as revealed by chapter 2’s discussion of embarrassment and other self-conscious emotions. Subsequent chapters explore the aesthetics of awkwardness; the relationship between awkwardness and manners; and the normative significance of awkwardness. The final three chapters of the book show that awkwardness can be an impediment to inquiry and an obstacle to moral progress. But understood correctly, awkwardness offers opportunities for moral and social improvement. The book concludes by discussing why, despite its inevitability, we can manage awkwardness and use the opportunities it provides to rewrite the scripts of our social interactions.