Kwame Anthony Appiah: Cosmopolitan Philosopher and Public Intellectual

Kwame Anthony Appiah, a Princeton professor of philosophy, was named among the world's seven most powerful thinkers by Forbes in 2009, yet remains largely unknown in France. Born in England to a British mother and Ghanaian father, he grew up in Ghana, earned his PhD from Cambridge, and built a prestigious career in the US teaching at top universities. He has been president of the Pen American Center (2009) and received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama (2012). Appiah's work spans political and moral philosophy, African and African American studies, and he has published an autobiography and three novels. He advocates for cosmopolitanism and cultural hybridity, arguing that globalization fosters mutual enrichment rather than uniformity or conflict. In his moral philosophy, Appiah engages with empirical sciences like psychology and sociology, though he remains skeptical of their direct contribution to normative ethics. His recent work on honor suggests that moral revolutions—such as the end of dueling, foot-binding, and the slave trade—were driven by sentiments of honor and shame rather than rational arguments. This view has been criticized for downplaying the role of reason, particularly regarding abolition. Appiah's position is complex: he seeks to open ethics to science but doubts science can answer moral questions; he believes in universal moral principles but questions their power to change lives.