Cosmopolitanism

Contamination is the mixing, borrowing, and hybridization of distinct cultural practices. Appiah sees contamination as inevitable and ultimately positive, a potential “counter-ideal” for those who want to preserve cultures, who admire “the authentic culture of the Asante or the American family farm” (111). Contamination among cultures has happened throughout world history and occurs anywhere different cultures have contact with one another. In a cosmopolitan world, Appiah sees contamination everywhere.

Cosmopolitanism is the framework proposed by Appiah. It has two important strands: (1) we have obligations to others that go beyond our local or personal commitments, and (2) we must take the value of human lives seriously, including the cultural practices and beliefs that give our lives significance. Appiah, who believes that many people are already engaged in cosmopolitanism in some respect, sees this framework as a way to address difficult moral questions.

Positivism is the philosophical worldview shared by most educated people in the West that dates back to the Enlightenment. It is based on the distinction between beliefs, which are based on facts about the world that can be proved or disproved, and desires, which are based on what we would like to be true about the world. Appiah, who articulates his problems with positivism in Chapters 2 and 3, believes the positivist picture of the world leads to relativism and makes real conversation about values impossible.

Relativism is the idea that moral truths cannot be viewed as objective, that what is right and wrong is ultimately a matter of personal opinion or cultural custom. Appiah notes that relativism, which he argues is epistemologically backed by positivism, is the default position for cultural anthropology and many Western thinkers. Appiah argues there are difficulties with relativism as a starting point for conversation about values, as it provides no bridge for reaching common ground with those who think differently than us.