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Why do we other and is there an ethical way to live with the other in an increasingly diverse world? In Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah considers otherness as coming from two interconnected concepts: first, the other are those who are not local or related to us; second, we perceive the other to have a conflicting set of values to our own. However, Appiah contends that the values between a group and an other are not significantly different. As for an ethical means of living together with the other, Appiah puts forth the concept of cosmopolitanism, which has two fundamental ideas: that we have an obligation of concern for others; and a respect for what he refers to as “legitimate difference” (Appiah: xv). Additionally, he puts forth that agreement on values is not necessary to live together in society, rather, the necessity is the ability to perform socially required actions regardless of whether there is agreement on the rationale for those actions. The first reason behind why we other, according to Appiah, is locality. We associate ourselves with those people local to us that we see and interact with daily. These are people with whom we share family and tradition. And, more importantly, we share values. The other, then, was …show more content…
This responsibility is perhaps stronger to those who are kin to us or part of our community, but it also includes those who are other. Appiah insists that one truth the cosmopolitan holds to is “that every human being has obligations to every other. Everybody matters: that is our central idea” (Appiah: 144). In its simplest form, what this looks like is doing “the most you can to minimize the amount of badness in the world” (Appiah: 161). Appiah acknowledges that an individual cannot save everyone or do everything, but that does not take away from the necessity of doing what one
In Macklin’s “Ethical Relativism in a Multicultural Society,” she discusses the difference between cultural tolerance and intolerance in the medical field. The main argument that follows is if physicians are obligated to follow contemporary ethics or in the case United States medical ethics or respect cultural difference of their patients and give treatment accordingly, especially when dealing with children. Macklin argues that while cultural tolerance should be practiced it is the “obligation of the pediatricians to educate and to even urge parents to adopt practices likely to contribute to the good health…of their children, and to avoid practices that will definitely or probably cause harm and suffering (Macklin, pp. 125). To state simply, Macklin is trying to discern when culturally diverse treatment can be practiced under the universal code of ethics and which are culturally relative. Based on this case:
In the article “Moral Disagreements”, Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses how disagreements occur when value based questions are asked. Appiah states the relevance of this topic by mentioning that individuals do not have to go to distances in order to be engaged in a moral discussion. Due to technology the world is more connected than ever, brining everyone together regardless of location. This results in the display of various cultures, believes and values. It is important to keep in mind that “if we are to encourage cosmopolitan engagement, moral conversations between people across societies, we must expect disagreements.” According to Appiah it is crucial to understand that every society is unique. There are similarities across societies
It is essential to understand the differences and similarities that people have within other people, to just try to accept the fact that some people may be different. However conversation often leads to social change because people tend to want to fit in where most people are the same. Appiah explains “Depending on the circumstances, conversations across boundaries can be delightful, or just vexing” (Page 73). That is why Appiah believes people need to be more accepting, more globalized. He initially feels that conversation can lead people to create change and can hinder their reasons to fit in because they are different. However, conversation is not enough because people are still changing to fit in, people are constantly feeling left out, not valued for their customs or beliefs. He also asserts “We can’t hope to reach a final consensus on how to rank and order such values. That’s why the model i 'll be returning to is that of conversation” (Appiah 73). With this being said it is clearly stated how Appiah is a firm believer that conversation is the number one key for understanding of others. This can be very controversial because Munoz may disagree. He asserts “The English- only way of life partly explains the quiet erasure of cultural difference that assimilation has attempted to accomplish” (Munoz 308). Conversation is leading to a change that is creating to erase the differences among people. For instance, Munoz asserts how people are changing their names because they feel comfortable and different. People are erasing their names and putting American names and forgetting where their names came from and how much it means to their culture. This is a major issue when conversation is changing but not necessarily for the better. It does create and effect in many people whom they are talked into how they are different and due to because people just don’t accept and understand the different cultures. It is
In his conclusion, he states that differences need to be recognized, respected and understood. He states that the United States needs to have a “pluralistic community“ . (22) He quotes Robert Bellah, “one which involves a sense of bond and connection stemming from shared activity, condition, task, location, and the like-and grounded ultimately in an experience of shared humanity- yet recognizing and valuing cultural differences (and other kinds of differences as well). (Blum 22)
Living with different kinds of cultures around you is also very knowledgeable to many people. One could learn a lot about someone’s background or country just by interacting or spending some time with them. For example, you can learn about different foods, clothing, fashion, and the kind of lifestyles others might have. Living together helps keeps us in harmony and peace. If we didn’t get along or maybe even share some of the ideas we wouldn’t be such a diverse community. Knowing and underst...
Second, we are selfish. As a human we are nature selfish. Some may say no I’m not selfish but deep down every human being have some type selfishness inside. Always want the best for people but once our love once is involved we go all out to make it happen. We value our own people more than other. It can’t change no matter what happen. In the article “The Myth of Universal Love” Stephen T. Asma claims “that the equality of human beings is “unproven.” It’s interesting that he feels no need to show that it is unproven and merely has to assert it, as if asserting it is a sufficiently rigorous argument.” In other words, Asma believe that it is obvious that people favor their family over their friends, their friends over their acquaintances, and acquaintances over strangers.
So to summarize the whole thing is that our fundamental moral duty is to make the world a better place for everyone. An action is moral depending on its results. All of the results of your action are important, not only the short term ones, which are the different between expected results and actual results. And when you fail to the maximum well-being you become immoral. [4]
As defined, cosmopolitanism as a whole is the idea that all cultures and ethnic groups within our world belong to a single community based on a shared morality. Considering this, Anthony Appiah claims that “cosmopolitanism is universality plus difference.” He says this because cosmopolitanism is based upon people accepting the variety of people, but understanding that all the different people of the world belong to one group due to a shared moral standard. But how can this be, when there are wars and conflicts going on throughout the world? Appiah discusses this throughout his book Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, as well as the commitments that cosmopolitans make, such as the commitment to the respect of differences in humans
However, a cosmopolitan would argue that the ethical value and rights granted should apply to every individual, instead of communities or nations. Even David Miller recognizes that it is natural to believe we have a certain obligation or responsibility to others outside our own nation, such as the world’s poor. This is because we are all human and have a humanitarian impulse inside us that makes us concerned with the well-being of others.
The concept of “other” created by humans, is driven by the need to create social groups. Humans are made to work with others, in groups, strength in numbers has always been a useful tactic. People will often group together because of similar interest, be it the downfall or uprising of concepts or people. The people in these groups have similar thoughts and goals which make the people in other groups alien.
Appiah argues that the only race in the United States is the Human Race. He states, that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race,” (Appiah 102) which means that culture defines the world that we live in and is the reason why our world is what it is today. Humans are rather being separated based off their cultural differences instead of racial because it affects their behavior in many ways. For example, culture influences the human mind because a child has to be ...
Naturally, the way we deal with diversity is organizing people into groups with different cultures. The focus of this article is to end cross-cultural research’s emphasis on our differences and bring people together by focusing on our similarities. The problem is that we tend to focus on the differences by categorizing people based on their language, ethnicity, or religion in multi- cultural societies.
I believe that we are all united and have a responsibility to each other. We should treat each other as we would want to be treated. This sounds like an easy task, but sometimes it is hard to think of others when we are so focused on our own needs. That is why I believe that empathy is extremely important for a successful society and for a successful individual.
Living in a diverse world should be something a person should be proud of. Getting to know a person’s culture and their beliefs should be a wonderful ability. Respecting one another is important, even though a lot of people still disregard that, which should discontinue. We should all start to learn how to make this world a better place,
The first verse sets the tone by starting off with “No matter where we are born / we are human beings” (5-6), an approach that has so much truth and grace, that it smashes all misconceptions of cultural beliefs, barriers and stigma that blinds most developing minds. From preschoolers to scholars, we see others as fellow