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Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (Issues of Our Time) Paperback – Illustrated, February 17, 2007
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“A brilliant and humane philosophy for our confused age.”―Samantha Power, author of A Problem from Hell
Drawing on a broad range of disciplines, including history, literature, and philosophy―as well as the author's own experience of life on three continents―Cosmopolitanism is a moral manifesto for a planet we share with more than six billion strangers.- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
- Publication dateFebruary 17, 2007
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
- ISBN-10039332933X
- ISBN-13978-0393329339
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
― John Gray, The Nation
"Cosmopolitanism is... of wide interest―invitingly written and enlivened by personal history.... Appiah is wonderfully perceptive and levelheaded about this tangle of issues."
― Thomas Nagel, The New Republic
"Elegantly provocative."
― Edward Rothstein, New York Times
"[Appiah's] belief in having conversations across boundaries, and in recognizing our obligations to other human beings, offers a welcome prescription for a world still plagued by fanaticism and intolerance."
― Kofi A. Annan, former United Nations secretary-general
"[Appiah's] exhilarating exposition of his philosophy knocks one right off complacent balance.... All is conveyed with flashes of iconoclastic humor."
― Nadine Gordimer, winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature
"An attempt to redefine our moral obligations to others based on a very humane and realistic outlook and love of art.... I felt like a better person after I read it, and I recommend the same experience to others."
― Orham Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (February 17, 2007)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 039332933X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393329339
- Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #79,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #234 in Political Philosophy (Books)
- #322 in History & Theory of Politics
- #361 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Kwame Anthony Appiah 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 Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University. In the 1990’s he published three mystery novels—“Avenging Angel,” “Nobody Likes Letitia,” and “Another Death in Venice”—and he hopes to return to novel writing someday soon. Professor Appiah writes the “Ethicist” column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. President Obama presented him with the National Humanities Medal in 2010; he gave the 2016 BBC Reith Lectures and he was the 2018 chair of the Man-Booker Prize jury. His 2018 book “The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity” was a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year. He maintains a website at www.appiah.net.
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Customers find the book interesting and enjoyable. They find it informative and provocative, with good points. However, opinions differ on the writing quality - some find it well-written and reflective, while others find it slow and hard to read.
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Customers find the book interesting and enjoyable. They find it informative and provocative, with good points and some that they actually agree with. The author incorporates his personal experience effectively and makes a modest call for understanding among cultural groups.
"...The journey continues: Mr. Appiah provides an informative and provocative guide to how to treat strangers, meant of course, in the large...." Read more
"...well-crafted appeals to the reader's good sense that are replete with ethnographic examples and real-world insights, what romantics and theologians..." Read more
"...While I enjoyed reading Cosmopolitanism, I couldn’t help but sense its utopian nature, which we can attempt to approximate but are not very likely..." Read more
"...The author of this enthralling book - Kwame Anthony Appiah - challenges this kind of separative thinking by resurrecting the ancient philosophy of "..." Read more
Customers have different views on the writing quality. Some find it well-written and accessible, while others find it unconvincing and rambling.
"...In it, Appiah makes plain, by well-crafted appeals to the reader's good sense that are replete with ethnographic examples and real-world insights,..." Read more
"...I think he's interesting, but still very hard to understand." Read more
"The author is a terrific writer. His style is very approachable. This isn't ivory-tower, academic journal style writing...." Read more
"...same values in different ways is the central focus of this unusual, well-written and very timely book." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2010We can move to a better neighborhood or to a different country. But all humanity is our neighbor, like them or not.
Mr. Appiah, the renowned Princeton philosophy professor, challenges us with the paradox of a common humanity, among which, different ethnic and religious groups often do not share customs, or even the same values. The Cosmopolitan thesis is that, despite being strangers in many ways, our common humanity provides a basis for mutual respect and compassion.
What anchors the paradox at one end is that, for most of human history, we knew only our own kind, with limited need to understand, let alone to accept, the customs of people in other groups. Over the last few centuries, increased trade and communication, as well as industrial pollution and international terrorism, has changed framework. Since our actions can affect "lives everywhere," ethical living implies responsibilities beyond our immediate environment and social group. Humanity has become, in a sense, one "tribe."
Mr. Appiah reminds us that the view of being a citizen of the world reflects intellectual traditions at least as old as classical times; that Marcus Aurelius, whose works were attractive to many Christian intellectuals, himself sought to suppress Christianity; that, then again, Christianity, whose allegiances have often fueled persecution, originally spread from Paul's assertion of "neither Jew nor Greek . . . . for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Yet, Mr. Appiah also reminds us, respect for those different includes respect for their freedom to be separate, as in the case of the Amish in the United States.
If you find yourself often straddling the same paradox and long to find a partner in the journey, you will find one in Mr. Appiah's short (196 pp.), varied, and challenging book. He provides examples of agreeing, yet agreeing to disagree. The non-Muslim for example, would agree on the devout's right to make a hajj to Mecca, but may not agree that a Deity has commanded it, or that avoiding pork is appropriate. The paradox is exemplified in explanations of the natural world. Even an agreement on facts leaves ambiguity in theories; e.g., whether it is germs or (many tiny) spirits that cause disease. Mr. Appiah makes a case that there are even fewer compelling arguments based on fact in the determination of values. The journey continues to the Ghana of the author's father, where we find out about "taboos" dealing with bush meat and menstruating women. A distinction made here is that, while taboos separate peoples, or classes within peoples (rulers, nobles, and slaves), morals differ in that they guide us in the treatment of others, so a taboo is a distinction with less of a difference. Even so, taboos are common to all cultures; westerners eat pigs but not cats.
A cosmopolitan understands and can live with difference, even when the differences are mutually understood. A "universalist," on the other hand, expects agreement through understanding. Mr. Appiah has us step back from taboos, to the more engaging questions of values. Still, while most people in a society value fair punishment, not all agree that punishment is worth the risk of punishing the innocent; while men in different societies relate their honor to the chastity of related women, not all of these men would agree that honor compels killing a woman who is raped. We find that reasoned argument does not compel either of these positions to those taking them. There seems to be a sort of getting "used to," that even a great mathematician (von Neumann) would endorse as reason's companion.
Mr. Appiah's treads lightly across serious subjects, and perhaps that is a cosmopolitan virtue. He contends that strangers are beyond communication mainly when they are imaginary; that is, when they are people we have not met one-to-one. Also, that, among diversity, there are inevitable commonalities: "I have failed to get people interested in Zeno's paradox in three continents." That, when caring about others requires an "out-group," one's caring is perhaps mere self-comfort.
Mr. Appiah explores the concept of cultural preservation. He proposes a difference between preserving culture and preserving cultures. He challenges the idea of "authenticity," as limited by the facts of history, such as the role of trade in the development of kente cloth and bagpipes. The need to "preserve" is argued as an ignorance of how free non-Westerners are to interpret American TV and consumer products. At worst, an attitude of cultural preservation condescends. We learn that the ancients saw the value of "contamination": stoic teachers traveling between city states, an African-born playwright, Publius Terentius Afer, using Greek ideas in Roman drama. We are offered, quoting this playright, a golden rule: "I am human: nothing is alien to me."
We are given a glimpse of the founder of the scouting movement, collecting (or looting?), as a prelude to a discussion of cultural objects. Mr. Appiah takes us to the question of whether a Norse goblet is more valuable in a Spanish museum or in a Norwegian family's living room. Cosmopolitanism proposes that the connection through ethnic identity across centuries is no less real than the connection through a common humanity.
Mr. Appiah includes some discussion of counter-cosmopolitans, for example, Islamic fundamentalists, to help us understand by way of contrast. The universal aspect in this case, and in others, is one that looks beyond borders or ethnicity, and excludes those who disbelieve. This discussion evokes the cosmopolitan understanding that different people will have different values, and that this is quite acceptable (with some exception for values not worth having). The cosmopolitan knows that one can learn from those with whom one disagrees. The counter-cosmopolitan sees nothing to be gained by reaching out from the faithful.
Finally, we are given the author's reflection on questions of sacrifice for the benefit of others. So, how much would we sacrifice to save the life of a child in a foreign country with nutrition and medicine? One hundred dollars? If that much, why not more - say, another hundred dollars. Or is there a point when it's more important to go the opera? And - is it really possible to save another's life for more than a few days, given the harsh realities of their life situation. Is it as easy as deciding to ruin a suit in order to save a child from drowning, and why? What is the principle behind the answers to these questions, if there is one.
The journey continues: Mr. Appiah provides an informative and provocative guide to how to treat strangers, meant of course, in the large. I do not guarantee the reader will find comfortable answers, only insights and surprising information, and that your answers, which are how you actually live, will now have questions to challenge them.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2006There is, so far, no better or more mature book on moral cosmopolitanism than Appiah's Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. In it, Appiah makes plain, by well-crafted appeals to the reader's good sense that are replete with ethnographic examples and real-world insights, what romantics and theologians have been telling us for ages: There is but a hair's breadth of difference between us; a tiny space that we can fill with causes for consternation and hatred, or with salutary joy at considering that difference. This Appiah does without in any way suggesting that there can ever be an end to the moral and cultural tensions that those differences do and must invite. He sketches the tenable cosmopolitanism we have been waiting for, and he parts company with the sentimentalist versions that remain - and should remain - in the shallow end of the pool.
Appiah, here as elsewhere (The Ethics of Identity), marvels that so many intellectuals have distorted the truth about the key insights of cosmopolitans, and he takes them to task. These have argued that cosmopolitanism contains an incredible and/or dangerous set of normative proposals and disregards the "facts" of human nature (that we are an insular species, with a territoriality that is red in tooth and claw). Appiah deftly replies that it is the cultural conservative, the jejune jingoist or nationalist, the duped hyper-contextualist, whose view of the world and of human nature is distorted, for the history of human social, cultural and even sexual intercourse is replete with cross-pollinations of language, religion, art, dress, rites, metaphysical outlooks, and progeny, all bespeaking an enormous aptitude for cooperation, bonding and friendship. We are an inter-cultural, intertwined, and interdependent species, just like every other on the planet. The view of ourselves as culturally isolated is the view that bears the burden of proof. It is, in fact, demonstrably false.
Appiah laments that so many philosophers and intellectuals, adopting a bad historicism, have argued, falsely, that we humans can only see the world up to the point of our own contextual "walls." He joins many - George Lakoff, Martha Nussbaum, William Sloane Coffin, Mohandis K. Gandhi, R.W. Emerson - in arguing that the greater truth of our humanity is our ability to imaginatively think new thoughts, to reconsider plans of life, to fashion new worlds of possibility, while acknowledging that each of us has a home that we should cherish, improve, perfect, and defend.
However, I in turn lament that this volume has failed to address what continues to go missing in normative literature - the role of love in moral imagination. For it seems to me that it is love - a word we are so often afraid to use in our secular and public discourse - that has the most power to make proper use of that hair's breadth of difference that we often find so important, that we are so ready to murder and maim for - where we, sometimes and lamentably, lend credence to those who would see us as best understood as having natures that are red in tooth and claw. I would like Professor Appiah to consider this a challenge, a challenge to write one more book to overcome what I perceive as this volume's single, but important, failing. I make this challenge because, once this failing is remedied, his body of work will have provided us with a full circle of mature cosmopolitan thought in the contemporary world.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2015Reading through Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism, I was pretty fascinated by the fact that references to its underlying concept date back to the fourth century BC, which interestingly, was a time where this term’s very meaning could not have been understood in the manner as we possibly can grasp it today.
Interestingly, I had watched a TED talk by Appiah not too long back in which he had drawn a comparison between the Asante community and the Western world to note that in case of the former, there were a set of assumptions dictated by religion, which any explanation of either the physical or the spiritual had to satisfy before possibly gaining widespread acceptance. In this regard, Appiah’s example of the virus being the basis of some of the diseases and the parallel explanation for that through witchcraft as understood in his Asante community, was pretty insightful.
In chapter 7, Appiah speaks approvingly of the exchange (or contamination) that comes about as a result of globalization. While the benefits he attributes to this process are significant, he fails to properly identify the associated harms. An example of such a harm can be drawn from Equiano’s description of how slave traders who brought European goods to exchange for slaves, essentially incited the natives to indulge in slave trade and consequently, disrupted the previously established economic equilibrium of the native community.
While I enjoyed reading Cosmopolitanism, I couldn’t help but sense its utopian nature, which we can attempt to approximate but are not very likely to attain.
Top reviews from other countries
- ATLamReviewed in Canada on February 16, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
One of my favourite books!
- Mohammad Muaz JalilReviewed in Canada on April 6, 2021
4.0 out of 5 stars Great condition
The quality of the book was great. But unfortunately I did not like the content, too shallow for my taste. Some of the concepts were interesting
- CosmoReviewed in Canada on April 27, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Awesome book!
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
A really important work by a formidable writer.