Kwame Anthony Appiah Beliefs

It has always been the job of philosophers to think, reflect on the right and wrong things in our society. As a well-known modern philosopher, Kwame Anthony Appiah follows these same ideals by thinking through how we see culture and race and reflecting on the positives and negatives of our society in his lectures and writings. He is a modern contemporary philosopher who has throughout the last decade contemplated how to turn moral understanding into moral behavior. Starting from his childhood, many aspects have molded the foundation of many of his philosophies such as his reconstruction of philosophical liberalism and ideals on ethics and ideals of cosmopolitanism. Many of those aspects include his multi-racial and higher upper-class educational background. Pivotal moments in his life, such as coming out as a gay man from Ghana, only

continued to set stage to many of his successful novels and poetry.

As an Icon for diversity and an example of how education has the power to make one successful, for my generation, he is one of the most influential people.
Kwame Anthony Appiah was born in London on May 8, 1954 under the name Kwame Anthony Akroma-Ampim Kusi Appiah. Although, most of his childhood was predominantly spent in Ghana, his education was in England. He studied at various institutions such as Bryanston School where attended private classes with other upper class children. He had his “post-primary education during his stay with his grandmother” (Kwame), which established his love for learning and built his sense of community. His grandmother, Isobel Cripps, was formerly appointed the Dame Grand Cross for her role in her community and her support in public services. Including his grandmother, he had many examples of success in his childhood. His father, Joseph Emmanuel Appiah was considered a part of the elite class in Ghana, especially in the Ashanti tribe, because of his family’s role in leadership and guidance. Throughout his father’s life, his father obtained many honorable titles. Some of

the main titles included being “a lawyer, diplomat and politician”. His father had a great reputation which continued to earn him positions such as a “Member of Parliament, President of the Ghana Association, and representative of Ghana at the United Nations” (Kwame). Seeing his father's political skills and ability to build connections and communities, Anthony Appiah took a lot from these skills and applied it to his ideals. Another strong figure was his mother, Enid Margaret “Peggy” Appiah. She was a novelist and children's writer who focuses was on patriotism. Her family was well known for being English philanthropist actively engaged in the social and cultural life of Kumasi (Kwame). Ghana became her adopted homeland and she fostered many other children throughout her philanthropy work and written children’s books (Kwame). One of the other highly inspirational acts by his parents was their interracial marriage, which was one of the first to be recognized by Britain. This set the stage for his home environment and his morals, values, and philosophies.