Versions Of Cosmopolitanism

The Internet is playing a very important role in the evolution of digital technology, but although it has seen remarkable growth over the last few years, its dispersion remains highly asymmetric. It is widely believed that the so called information age will bring radical change and improvement, and countries all over the world are busy with constructing the necessary infrastructure, the "information superhighways," in order to meet the challenges of the information society of the twenty-first century. Kwame Anthony Appiah’s essay “Making Conversation” tell us about human’s conversation

Global Citizenship & Equity at Centennial College: Global citizenship refers to the social well- being of various communities and its main focus is to minimize inequity which means try to protect our surroundings and don’t harm others. Global citizens support equity at all levels local as well as globally. In equity we have to change different strategy not only changes the version of current strategy to ensure equity.

All around the world today, there is a lot of tension revolving around concepts of morality. In Moral Disagreement by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Appiah writes about differing values and morals around the world and within our society. He points out, “we aren’t the only people who have the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad; every society, it seems, has terms that correspond to these thin concepts” (658). However, these concepts are not always the same with each other in every society. In the same way that not everyone in our society believes in the same moral concepts. Unfortunately, it is these disagreements that often separate us as people. Forming different cultures, large and small, throughout the world. This is not a bad thing, but it does separate us as a race, leaving us to care more for one group of people rather than humanity as a whole. In Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism, by Martha Nussbaum, Nussbaum suggest that a way to fix this problem, and to become a cosmopolitan person, is to teach students in our education systems more of different cultures throughout the world. Yet not only should we learn to accept other cultures and their beliefs, but we should also educate ourselves to accept everybody we meet, giving respect to them as individuals, if we ever truly want to become a citizen of the world.

George Kennan says, “Morality in governmental method, as a matter of conscience and preference on the part of our people – yes.” He goes on to say that morality as a criterion for measuring and comparing the behavior of states is flawed. Morality is a preference, not a requirement to govern in the international anarchic system, Kennan argues. Ethics and justice in the international system are measured by how states satisfy varying moral requirements. These moral requirements are defined by a variety of schools of thought, including: Realists, Morality of States theorists, and Cosmopolitans. Realists may validate some action where morality of state theorists and cosmopolitans are fundamentally opposed. In this paper I will

In Kwame Appiah’s introductory chapter, Critical Thinking, he delves into the topic of cosmopolitanism, and its necessity within our modern world. Appiah claims that while complete cosmopolitanism may not be obtainable or optimal, partial cosmopolitanism is the ideal model for us to follow. He supports this claim by highlighting that the modern world is expanding rapidly in its population leading to a critical need for conversations to be established amongst ourselves. As a civilization who is divided by borders, social and cultural constructs we have little to no room for the fundamental ethical bonds that we possessed thousands of years ago. Furthermore, not only is our exponentially growing population the issue, but also our blatant

Cultural diversity, or multiculturalism, is based on the idea that cultural identities should not be discarded or ignored, but rather maintained and valued. The foundation of this belief is that every culture and race has made a substantial contribution to American history. However, many people remain opposed to the idea of multiculturalism, or cultural diversity awareness, while others often support it and yet have no clear idea of how it should be taught. The diversity of the United States is truly astounding, as many different ethnic and racial groups have contributed to the social,

First, Anderson’s Imagined Communities focuses on the creation of nations and the emergence of nationalism with the goal of deciphering why individuals love and die in their nations name. Overall, he defines a nation as an “imagined political community- and imagined as most inherently limited and sovereign.” Furthermore, Anderson specifies that it is imagined since members of even the smallest unit will never meet all of the other members, it is limited because even the largest nations have boundaries, a nation is sovereign because the concept was born in the age of the Enlightenment and Revolution , and lastly it is a community regardless of inequality due to its appearance as a deep, horizontal

Appiah’s assertions have to do with something which he deems to be other than globalization: cosmopolitanism. For Appiah, cosmopolitanism goes beyond mere globalization—“a term that once referred to a marketing strategy, and then came to designate a macroeconomic thesis, and now can seem to encompass everything and nothing” (Appiah xiii)—and even multiculturalism—“another shape shifter, which so often designates the disease which it purports to cure” (Appiah xiii)—representing a grudging coexistence and maintained separation between different cultures. Beyond these insufficient terms and concepts, Appiah proposes cosmopolitanism which was coined by the “Cynics of the 4th century BC” and means “citizen of the universe” (Appiah xiv). As cosmopolitanism is mainly an act undertaken by individuals, a cosmopolitan is someone who places their membership to humanity over the loyalty to

Cosmopolitanism, by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, follows the events of a missionary taking control of an African tribe, but mainly focuses on one character. Cosmopolitanism can be defined by the following quote, “Cosmopolitans...regard all the peoples of Earth as so many branches of a single family, and the universe as a state, of which they, with innumerable other rational beings, are citizens, promoting together under the general laws of nature as a whole, while each in his own fashion is busy about his own wellbeing (Voltaire),” (Appiah xv). If everyone acted like Mr. Brown, a kind and peaceful man, then a lot of unnecessary events would have been avoided, like Okonkwo’s strong disgust of the change in

Another concept of cosmopolitanism that Mr. Brown embodies is that we are all one family, since we are all human beings. “Cosmopolitans...regard all the peoples of Earth as so many branches of a single family, and the universe as a state, of which they, with innumerable other rational beings, are citizens, promoting together under the general laws of nature as a whole, while each in his own fashion is busy about his own well-being” (VolitareVoltaire xv). Mr. Brown follows this, because he treats Okonkwo’s tribe with respect and generosity. He is willing to learn about the tribe’s faith, and he comes to respect the faith and the tribe’s leader. Family accepts and respect each other.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines ‘cosmopolitan’ as something that is “common to the whole world,” or a person who is “at home in all parts of the earth or in many spheres of interest” (1978, 301). Now, how, on Allah’s earth, can we talk about “Muslim” world cosmopolitanism?

Throughout different readings written by influential philosophers, many have found a cosmopolitan society to be associated with the idea of public and private spheres. The relationship between public and private in a community is arguably essential to maintaining political order and international peace. Through the lens of Diogenes’ bibliography and Immanuel Kant’s work, they demonstrate the notion of cosmopolitan through different public and private spheres. These two philosophers have very different outlooks on this concept and how to go about them, but at the same time, are striving towards a similar goal; a cosmopolitan society. Both philosophers discuss how freedom is a key aspect in

While cosmopolitanism can be viewed as a concise concept, it can often be divided between two strands. The first strand as Appiah explains focuses on the obligations we have to one another as universal citizens of the cosmos. Obligations that stretch beyond family or local community. The second strand is more intensive stating that not only are we obligated to those whom we share nothing in common with but also find ourselves accountable for knowing other individuals on a more profound level of their practices and belief systems. Yet, while there do exist these two varying strands Appiah also acknowledges that it is not desirable nor probable that as a collective population we want to live under a single model of living. All the while he briefly states that these two varying strands of the same descending concept may conflict in certain instances. Those who advocate so fiercely for the cause of unification and understanding were often mocked for their own hypocritical actions.

Globalization makes us aware of other countries leading us to recognize the differences among all cultures. Perhaps the U.S. can learn from other cultures just as well as other cultures are learning about the American way of life. Humankind would be a better place if we were all just citizens of the world. In Martha Nussbaum’s essay “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism” she argues whether children should be taught in education to be patriotic or cosmopolitan. Nussbaum’s definition of cosmopolitanism is a person whose primary allegiance is to the community of human beings in the entire world.

Even though cosmopolitanism is an old idea from Ancient Greek times, the idea did not appear again in the philosophical area until Kant proposed his new nationality idea. Kant wanted to find a solution to all international conflicts and achieve an international peace. His moral