Son of a Ghanaian lawyer and politician and an English writer, Appiah grew up in Kumasi, Ghana, and studied at Cambridge. He has taught at Princeton and New York University and writes the Ethicist column in The New York Times. His work on identity, race and honor argues that we can belong to many groups at once while caring about all of humanity.
Core ideas
We owe concern to all human beings, not only to our own nation or group
Identities like race and nation are real in their effects but loosely made
Moral revolutions often happen when honor and shame change their targets
The tradition: Cosmopolitan liberal
Cosmopolitan liberalism defends both individual freedom and a moral concern that crosses borders. Appiah is its leading contemporary voice, shaped by his life between Africa and the West.
