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112th out of 352 books
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Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
Kwame Anthony Appiah s landmark new work, featured on the cover of the "New York Times Magazine," challenges the separatist doctrines espoused in books like Samuel Huntington s "The Clash of Civilizations." Reviving the ancient philosophy of cosmopolitanism, a school of thought that dates to the Cynics of the fourth century BC, Appiah traces its influen...more
Paperback, 196 pages
Published
February 26th 2007
by W. W. Norton & Company
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I have to say I find Appiah’s cosmopolitanism to be incredibly appealing. Call me a globalized liberal who thinks we can work most things out, but the fact that besides a bedrock belief in toleration of all but intolerance, there is little else that exists as a absolute in Appiah's thinking is attractive to me.
I am sick of all encompassing theories. But I am also wary of an all out relativism. Appiah seems to be trying to walk a line somewhere in the middle. He argues that through en...more
I am sick of all encompassing theories. But I am also wary of an all out relativism. Appiah seems to be trying to walk a line somewhere in the middle. He argues that through en...more
Appiah writes elegantly about cosmopolitanism, lacing his narrative (employing "we" as in, "we cosmopolitans") with anecdotes, effectively referencing philosophers, authors, and the like. The book is insidious, however...too easy in its conclusions. It celebrates the "contamination" of cosmopolitanism's curiousity and engagement with difference without critiquing seriously enough the uneven distributions of power that produce and map those differences. Moreover, the...more
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Everyone everywhere who lives in a complex world should read this book. It takes a difficult topic: How do we live in a world that's diverse and contradictory – and engages a thoughtful and gentle conversation and consideration about this subject
This books is intensely well-written. Appiah's concepts and arguments are exemplified and explained anecdotally through his own personal experience. He generously uses these diverse cultural experiences as models, thus cutting down the abstra...more
This books is intensely well-written. Appiah's concepts and arguments are exemplified and explained anecdotally through his own personal experience. He generously uses these diverse cultural experiences as models, thus cutting down the abstra...more
As a student of philosophy, and as a person genuinely interested in the type of project that Appiah pursues herein, I became increasingly frustrated with his work here. In an attempt to avoid metaphysical claims--and the subsequent alienation such notions entail--but, in the process, fails to come up with a coherent theory for dealing with these issues. His examples and storytelling feel frequently like counterexamples as much as examples to make his points.
I was very interested in...more
I was very interested in...more
My interest in Professor Appiah's work began a week ago when he presented at SUU on the topic of "Moral Disagreement", one of the chapters in this book. I was pleased to witness a writing style as engaging as his oration. Kwame Appiah explains a complicated philosophy with both whit and wisdom; he uses modern examples to highlight the central tenants of ageless cosmopolitanism. While the book succeeds at detailing a philosophy that deals with the challenges of a "global",...more
A very interesting read and highly appropriate in this era of global communication and fear of a one-world-government cabal. His background growing up partly a child of Africa in Ghana and partly a child of England, and his education in the USA give the author an interesting perspective. His chapter on beliefs and values was fascinating, and his argument for leaving some of those treasures in the British Museum won me over. I also related to his take on some of Peter Singer's thinking in his ...more
I don't always find books by philosophers easy to read, but I think that's just because I often don't understand the shorthand references to "Hegalian" perspectives and such that require a knowledge of philosophy to interpret.
But this book is a really nicely balanced discussion of Appiah's personal history, globalism (or cosmopolitanism in the author's terminology) and ethics. It goes beyond the simplicity of 'multiculturalism' or 'globalization' to investigate and value the ...more
But this book is a really nicely balanced discussion of Appiah's personal history, globalism (or cosmopolitanism in the author's terminology) and ethics. It goes beyond the simplicity of 'multiculturalism' or 'globalization' to investigate and value the ...more
Pico Iyer opened his New York Times review of Yiyun Li's latest novel, The Vagrants saying,
All the world's stories are America's stories now, and this constant glory of our literature; as never before in our lifetimes, so many histories flooding into America, and so many Americans going out to claim the world as an extension of their homes, that our imaginations are being stretched (one hopes) along with the words we use, the wisdoms we inhabit, the sounds and philosophies we can be...more
Thoroughly, disappointingly mediocre. A couple of the arguments in this book were pretty terrible, the rest being rather tepid. Appiah disagrees with Peter Singer et al about the conclusions drawn from the Shallow Pond thought experiment, in which we are said to have very demanding ethical obligations to donate as much of our worldly possessions as possible to help the poor in the third world. His objection to this argument? We can't know all of the consequences of our actions, so we can't say t...more
Reading through this one for the third (second serious) time, I found Appiah's initial reasoning sound, but I took issue with some of his pronouncements towards the end. It's not that anything he said was wrong, illogical, or incorrect. He paints a picture where curious and sincere individuals from around the globe can develop through interactions, exchanges, interdependence, and mutual obligation. My only critique is that Appiah fails to recognize (through omission, and perhaps, only through to...more
ethics. ethics. ethics!
appiah raises some good questions about our responsibility to the world and our fellow citizens. at the beginning i felt that the book lacked urgency, but towards the end it is easier to see how his philosophies do (and for some, could) function in our current world.
while tasty, the text isn't that filling, so maybe it serves as a ground on which appiah will build more compelling and consuming arguments. i mean maybe it is some sort of appetizer...more
appiah raises some good questions about our responsibility to the world and our fellow citizens. at the beginning i felt that the book lacked urgency, but towards the end it is easier to see how his philosophies do (and for some, could) function in our current world.
while tasty, the text isn't that filling, so maybe it serves as a ground on which appiah will build more compelling and consuming arguments. i mean maybe it is some sort of appetizer...more
I LOVED THIS BOOK! Completely love it! This book taught me so much about being a citizen of the world. How not to see the world from my side, from my view, but from everyone's perspectives! It was interesting to realized how narrow my view of the world is. I have to stop being worried about what happens in my surroundings and start looking what happens in the entire world. Definitely, I'm a citizen of the world after reading this book. Thanks Kwame Anthony Appiah!
If you haven't really read or thought about political, cultural and economic globalization and some of its moral implications, this might be a good book to start the conversation. If you're a complete naif, you might even find it illuminating. It is written in a breezy and chatty style, not too taxing or ponderous, but then it tends to be somewhat obvious, or even at times (especially in the first half) outright boring, especially if you've read anything more than a newspaper column.
This is a thought-provoking, very practical and applicable study of cosmopolitanism -- the title really says it all. I loved reading this and applying Appiah's understandings of cosmopolitanism to Moby Dick, which was why we had to read this text. I am so thrilled my professor introduced Appiah to me. I had a chance to hear him speak last semester, and I recommend it to anyone who has the time.
excellent, quick, readable philosophy treatise on getting along with strangers: conversation is the crucial human activity that allows us to articulate real existing values; there are real Goods and Bads. clear credible arguments against relativism, positivism, and peter singer...
BUT it's a little too easy and a little too short! could go to the next level. however i do enjoy me some popular philosophy.
BUT it's a little too easy and a little too short! could go to the next level. however i do enjoy me some popular philosophy.
I appreciate the complex questions which Appiah raises and that he does not accept easy answers. At the end, I felt that he fell into some of the same methods of reasoning which he criticizes in others. I also feel that his concluding focus solely on giving money gives us an easy way to avoid having to actually think about other people.
Whiile Dr. Appiah remains my recently crowned favorite living philosopher, I found this second book that I read less raw than the first and somewhat less powerful. Still appreciated gaining a better understanding of what cosmopolitanism means relative to other philosophical concepts and feel a natural affinity towards it. Also found the additional perspective on Kwame's life story from Ghana/Asante to London to NYC interesting along with his use of other cultural examples to illustrate the hum...more
The best idea I noticed in reading this book was that while we might not be able to agree with other cultures, and we might not even understand other cultures, we can at least get used to other cultures. And it turns out that being used to another culture gets us a lot more than it might seem at first.
COSMOPOLITANISM is lean, jargon-free prose about to whom we are morally responsible in the twenty-first century. Appiah, who is gay, black, and Ghanaian, does a phenomenal job of incorporating his own (and his families') experiences into his arguments. I enjoyed it more than most of the novels I've recently been reading, particularly its first couple of chapters, "The Shattered Mirror" and "The Problems of Positivism," and its final chapter that reckons with Peter Singer an...more
Cosmopolitanism-a name that universal believers in humanity share. I like this book more than Appiah's other works because it is philosophical writing for the less philosophical reader. I don't believe in the practicality of everything he writes but I still find it interesting.
A brilliant and lucid book on the attempt by this philosopher and ethicist to make a case for shared values in our increasingly fragmented world.
My students this past fall (2008) loved it!
My students this past fall (2008) loved it!
I did like his emphasis on cross-cultural 'conversation' as a means of promoting mutual understanding (and not necessarily harmony and love, etc.), but I find something deeply wrong with an account of cosmopolitanism being written by someone who admits he doesn't even know what one human's obligation to another is. I feel that his prescriptions were rather superficial and feel-good for the affluent Western audiences he's targeting--and in this sense, not cognizant enough of the tragic dispositi...more
Cecile
marked it as to-read
This is recommended by my Dad. He's reading it this summer with incoming Plan II freshman. See http://www.utexas.edu/student/reading for the reading list it's on and his comments.
"How real are values? What do we talk about when we talk about difference? Is any form of relativism right? When do morals and manners clash? Can culture be 'owned'? What do we owe strangers by virtue of our shared humanity?"
All questions Appiah ponders in this quick-reading but thoughtful (as well as warm and witty) little book.
All questions Appiah ponders in this quick-reading but thoughtful (as well as warm and witty) little book.
A bit drag, but has good teachings, just need to hang in there while reading this book and remember all the teachings that it is teaching.
Senior year of college I wrote a term paper arguing that Patriotism is an important value and that it did not necessarily stand in opposition to Cosmopolitanism--and that these could be complimentary ideas.
Appiah presents an easily-digestible argument for the paramount importance of Cosmopolitanism in the creation of personal identity for both individuals and groups.
Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is--Appiah is a better writer and philosopher than I. Good thing I g...more
Appiah presents an easily-digestible argument for the paramount importance of Cosmopolitanism in the creation of personal identity for both individuals and groups.
Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is--Appiah is a better writer and philosopher than I. Good thing I g...more
Interesting. Very. That is all I can say. Great for any of you philosophical thinkers out there.
A well-argued and stylish discussion of what it means and why it matters to live a life of cosmopolitanism
Lots of common sense and niceties, not too many substantive or controversial claims. Exceptions were the chapters on cultural repatriation and the Singer principle.
Maybe I came in with high expectations, but this book failed to impress. I moved through the book expecting him to more fully develop ideas he'd introduced but it never really happened. The two best chapters are found at the end. The rest of the chapters are mostly composed of thought experiments that, while interesting, didn't blow my mind or contribute greatly to the topic of cosmopolitan thought.
I like his writing style, I like his observations, and I'm convinced that he's an int...more
I like his writing style, I like his observations, and I'm convinced that he's an int...more
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| What do we owe strangers? | 1 | 10 | Apr 02, 2010 09:50am |
Kwame Anthony Appiah, the president of the PEN American Center, is the author of The Ethics of Identity, Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy, The Honor Code and the prize-winning Cosmopolitanism. Raised in Ghana and educated in England, he has taught philosophy on three continents and is currently a professor at Princeton University.
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More about Kwame Anthony Appiah...
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