Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Ghanaian-British-American philosopher who outlined his ideas of cosmopolitanism in his 2006 article “ Making Conversation.” Cosmopolitanism is the idea of having a moral responsibility to uphold proper etiquette for our multicultural differences. Appiah encourages society to extend our moral accountability to those around us not just to our relatives. His main premise on how to achieve such a global feat is through communication and understanding of one another’s culture. Appiah identifies that the world is interconnected; there is an inevitable reaction somewhere in the world for every action we take, no matter how insignificant of a decision it may seem. Appiah emphasizes that there is no “right” way to do one task as long as we are respectful to the various ways such task can be accomplished. Cosmopolitanism is not the idea of converging into one uniform society, but rather giving the appropriate respect to different social ideals. I agree with Appiah’s philosophy of becoming a more cosmopolitan society through the use of communication, I believe the most effective way of communicating will be to utilize social media. Conversation can be a powerful tool when used correctly. Cosmopolitanism’s ideology emphasizes the use of conversation to resolve issues and conflicts. The ideology uses the basis of conversation as a root to live and learn in a multicultural society successfully. In order to learn we must be selfless and “have obligations to others, obligations that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by the ties of kith and kin, or even the more formal ties of shared citizenship” (Appiah, 2006, p. xv). This idea of a moral obligation to someone we know nothing about can only be achieved by having an open minded conversation. It is necessary to extend our conversations, as the world is interconnected and interdependent with each other. Communication leads to a more harmonious society where people are living more cohesively with one another. Cosmopolitanism is an attempt to prevent meaningless conflict amongst nations. However, Appiah is aware that, “there’s a sense in which cosmopolitanism is the name not of the solution by of the challenge” (2006, p. xv). The concept of becoming a more understanding nation comes with its challenges. The world is filled with various cultures, practices and traditions. Each community is so proud of their unique heritage that their allegiance will always lie with their own social cultures. This is where the open-mindedness must come into action. Appiah’s philosophy of cosmopolitanism does not expect the world to assimilate, just merely recognize and accept the fact that there are different ways of living. In order to accept different cultures, we need to be knowledgeable on the matter, which is why learning through communication a key point in Appiah’s ideology.
Living in the 21st century, the majority of the population is connected through social media. We are able to tweet, Facebook and email one another thousands of miles away. We are able to visual living styles and cultures through Google along with other outlets. The fact that so much of the world uses social networks and forums has transformed how people communicate with one another. It has altered the concept of distance and time; prior to having vast amounts of social media outlets we struggled to be quality cosmopolitan citizens as we were not able to efficiently have contact with people from other cultures. In the past we had to fly to a certain destination, which consumed precious time and money. We have become and have remained more interconnected with the rest of the world through the ease and efficiency of communicating through social networking. Appiah continuously brings up the cultural and social differences along with the variations of standards, which they believe to be the norm. Some cultures will find these customs acceptable while others will find them repulsive. Due to the nature of all human beings, people tend to only think of themselves as having the correct views on the world and are less accepting of the beliefs of others. I wholeheartedly agree with Appiah as he says how small agreements through conversation are essential to eventually having two cultures that work in harmony for long periods of time. We have already begun to open up our minds to other cultures, customs and beliefs. We have already progressed and are slowly becoming more cosmopolitan and globalized. But only when all citizens of a nation become completely accepting of everyone’s beliefs without necessarily agreeing with them at all will the nation and culture fit the definition of cosmopolitan and become completely globalized. Those countries will then become an asset to communications between all other countries on this Earth and become a successful and thriving nation.

Reference
Appiah, K. A (2006). Introduction: Making conversation. In Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers (pp. xi-xxi). New York: W.W. Norton