Professor Norris
English 5
December 9, 2015
The philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah encourages literal conversations, and engagements with strangers of different backgrounds. He emphasized on cross cultural barriers and how we have fundamental responsibilities to everyone around us. The philosopher seriously explores the claims of identity and the task of making a life, considering them as abstract social categories through which people define themselves. Therefore, Kwame indicates that people are responsible for each other as citizens of the world; people are different, and these differences should be respected by other individuals.
“Cosmopolitanism originally comes from a Greek phrase kosmou polites, which means citizen of the …show more content…
Cosmopolitanism is the idea that everyone is …show more content…
It is their moral responsibility to take care of one another as fellow members of a city or state, but without the aim of imposing a monarch above them (Taylor P.90). Cosmopolitanism, the ideology that all human beings belong to a single community based on a shared morality, equals to the idea of global citizenship, but without global government. It takes cultural differences seriously and respects other people’s choices. In other words, people are equal all over the world, and they should not impose or promote their views in an aggressive manner. They should respect perspectives of other people and should help each other, regardless of the circumstances. All individuals are free to have and express their own ideas due to the human rights and freedom of expression and thought (Taylor P.92). Consequently, the diversity of people, their ideas, perspectives, and perception of the world should be respected by other individuals. Thus, people are responsible for each other as citizens of the world.
My key disagreement with Kwame is on the concept of basic human moral values. I do not believe that he has made a strong enough argument on whether as a fellow human being I have a responsibility, to let other human beings know what basic moral values are acceptable. For instance, if I see a complete stranger torturing a child or a pet, do I have a moral responsibility to not only call the authorities on them, but also approach