Review Of Appiah's Cosmopolitanism: Ethics In A World Of Strangers

In his piece, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics In A World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah intends for his readers to re-evaluate his/her worldview and urges readers to use the concept of cosmopolitanism as a tool to understand modern society. Appiah defines cosmopolitanism as being two different ideas intertwined into one. Basically, it is the universal concern and respect for other people. He focuses on questions such as, are we as obligated to strangers as we are to people who are close to us? Or should we do anything about people who are suffering who we're not connected to by geography, family relationships, or common interests? At the end of his introduction, Appiah suggests
“In the face of temptation, I want to hold on to at least one important …show more content…
We can’t hope to reach a final consensus of how to rank and order such values. That’s why the model I’ll be returning to is that of conversation-and, in particular, conversation between people from different ways of life. ” (Appiah, 21)
This idea that Appiah claims in his introduction is something that I see in the world we live in today.
To begin, Appiah introduces the term universal values, meaning values that everyone in the world finds valuable to them and their lives. Values such as honesty, loyalty, respect, integrity, and trustworthiness and so many more. These values are known worldwide. Every single mother in this world raises their child to grow up and have these values as a core to their being. Similarly, the teachers in this world