Appiah Appiah Cosmopolitanism

1. Based on the text from Appiah’s passage, he thinks Cosmopolitanism is a simple concept that means everyone should learn to look at each other as one big family and not as a branch of different communities. He believes that people should learn to associate and develop conversations with each other. However, he believes that cosmopolitanism has its own conflicts and that everyone cannot understand this idea because each person has an obligation to each other and an obligation to themselves. Appiah also believes not everyone can become cosmopolitan because all cultures and societies in different parts of the world have different views on values and what is right or wrong. According to Appiah, “cosmopolitanism shouldn’t be seen as some exalted attainment: It begins with the simple idea that in the human community, as in national communities we need to develop habits of coexistence: conversation in its older meaning, of living together, association (Appiah 48). He also then goes on to state that “you cant have any respect for human …show more content…
Appiah talks about some tools throughout the text that he believes can enact his vision of cosmopolitanism. He promotes the idea of a primacy of practice. Conversation is what he believes is a vital factor to have a successful and peaceful coexistence. According to Appiah, “I don’t say we can’t change minds, but the reasons we exchange in our conversations will seldom do much to persuade others who do not share our fundamental evaluative judgements already” (51-52). I do not believe his vision is that realistic though because everyone has a different perspective on things and has their own beliefs so I believe not everyone will always come to an agreement on things. However, personally, I do think they can be effective if given a shot because I truly believe that conversing about what you believe in can be much more productive when it comes having people understand why you believe in certain things such as values and