Experts
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Professor, Princeton University; President, PEN American Center
-
Maybe we should re-evaluate the whole idea of certainty. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom, Truth & Justice
-
Is the American political system broken?
The three branches of government can be mutually counter-productive. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Politics & Policy
-
We must redesign world economies so the poorest can lead decent lives, says Appiah. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Business & Economics, World
-
What happens with global warming depends on our leadership. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Environment, Future
-
A world that respects diverse human natures is critical. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Identity
-
Does religion inform your worldview?
The conversation of religion is full of lessons. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Belief
-
The Personal Philosophy of Kwame Anthony Appiah
The personal philosophy of Kwame Anthony Appiah. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Belief
-
Which philosophers inform your work?
Past philosophers and thinkers who have influenced Appiah's work. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom
-
Kwame Anthony Appiah on Multiple Identities?
It's important to apply our identities in relation to context and people. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Identity
-
Should we embrace or reject our differences?
We should find a middle ground to moderate the our extremes of identity. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Identity, Inspiration & Wisdom
-
The Complex Question of Identity
Appiah talks about how his many identities come together to define him. Read More
-
Philosophers ask the big questions. Read More
December 26, 2007 | In Belief, Truth & Justice
-
A man of multiple backgrounds. Read More
Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Ghanian-American philosopher, cultural theorist and novelist. His interests lie primarily in ethics, political theory, African intellectual history, and the philosophy of language and the mind. Born in London and raised in Kumasi, Ghana, Appiah attended the Bryanston School and Clare College, Cambridge, later earning his PhD in philosophy at the University. He has taught philosophy and African and African-American studies at University of Ghana, Cambridge, Duke, Cornell, Yale, Harvard and, most recently, Princeton University, where he is Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy.
In 2007, he was the President of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association and he now serves as Chair of the Executive Board of the American Philosophical Association; and he is also currently Chair of the Board of the American Council of Learned Societies. In March 2009, he succeeded Francine Prose as President of the PEN American Center.
While his early work dealt mainly with problems of semantics and structuralism, philosophically, Appiah is influenced by the cosmopolitanist tradition and issues of race and identity. He has published three novels, including Avenging Angel (1991), a murder mystery. His many nonfiction books, for which he’s better known, include In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture (1993), winner of the Herskovitz Prize for African Studies in English, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (2006), and his most recent Experiments in Ethics (2008). He lives with his partner, Henry Finder, in Chelsea, Manhattan.
