Princeton philosopher Anthony Appiah describes "Cosmopolitanism" as having two core commitments: a commitment to the recognition of human cultural difference and a commitment to the view that we have moral obligations to those human beings who are not members of our own political community. In your essay, describe in detail cosmopolitanism's commitment to the recognition of human difference and explain how it constitutes a middle say between cultural relativism and imperialistic universalism.
In history, there have been many religions that insisted their particular theology and system of morality were universal (especially Christianity and Islam), and that they had a mission to covert the rest of humanity to their way of thinking. There are also been numerous imperialists and militarists such as Napoleon and Hitler who were determined to impose their particular culture on as many other nations as possible. None of these were particularly cosmopolitan since they were completely convinced that their way was the correct one and no deviations or disagreements were possible. At the opposite extreme were the relativists who regarded all cultures and religions as equally valid in their own context and that they should not be judged or condemned. Of course, most people in history outside of the educated elites have never believed this, and in fact most of the concepts of religion, family and morality that we believe are right depend “in good measure, on the concepts with which you grew up” (Appiah 44). Indeed, most people will go through their entire lives without questioning these in any fundamental way, just as Appiah’s father in his native country of Ghana could state that “nobody in Ghana is silly enough not to believe in God”, while almost everyone believes that demons and witchcraft are responsible to diseases and various other misfortunes (Appiah 34). So did most people in the Western world before the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th Centuries, and even to question such beliefs could result in fatal consequences from the state and religious authorities.
Appiah accepts the reality that all conversations concerning differences in religion and morality between cultures are going to result in disagreements and often violent conflicts, which have been commonplace in history. There have always been a wide variety of beliefs about taboos, diet, sexuality and rules of purity, and this continues to be the case even in today’s world of global capitalism and mass communications (Appiah 44). For example, some cultures still eat dogs and cats even though Westerners find the practice repulsive, and many traditional societies believe that “the ideal life for any woman is making an managing a home” (Appiah 77). So did almost everyone in the West prior to the 19th Century, when the idea that women belonged in the domestic sphere was hardly even questioned either by men or women. Al Qaeda supporters believe that suicide bombers will go to heaven, while Christian fundamentalists in America are certain that the killing of a fetus is murder. No amount of cosmopolitan dialogue or cultural pluralism and tolerance is ever likely to reconcile any of these basic differences in thought and ideology, although Appiah still thinks that we might “learn something even from those we disagree with” (Appiah 146). He also denies that any purely traditional cultures still exist today since “trying to find some primordially authentic culture can be like peeling an onion” given centuries of imperialism, trade and missionary activities (Appiah 107). Even those societies in poor countries that wish to preserve their traditions against cultural imperialism generally lack the resources to do so. In spite of the numerous differences in ideas about religion and morality, he also thing that assistance to the poor is one of the fundamental duties of all cosmopolitan societies, although for the most part this has been very limited given the magnitude of the problem (Appiah 171).
WORKS CITED
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. NY: Norton, 2006.
