Moments

Diogenes, the Greek philosopher is the first known person to have termed himself 'citizen of the world'. In this essay published in the NYT Magazine on Sun, Jan 1, 2006, Kwame Anthony Appiah, a philosopher at Princeton University originally from Ghana, makes a compelling case for global cosmopolitanism over preserving the 'purity' of individual cultures. He argues that in a global economy, a cosmopolitan culture is not only inevitable, but also beneficial to humanity in the long run. He distinguishes 'cosmopolitanism' as an ecumenical ideal from other universal philosophies which seek to unite humanity under a single preferred belief system: most notably religion.

Belief in the optimistic ideal of 'world citizenship' which transcends local, regional and national identities is something close to my heart, and it was heartening to hear a scholar put it so eloquently.

The complete article is here. If you can't see it, email me :)