Who We Are: Identity and the Good Life
Essentially, ethics is about what it is for a person to do well the one thing we are all doing, which is making a human life. In doing so, there are many things we must keep in mind. We have, for example, general moral duties to others, relationships that impose special demands on us and projects to which we are committed. But among the resources that enable and constrain our life-making are our social identities — including our gender, sexuality, class, nationality, race, ethnicity and profession. In this lecture, Kwame Anthony Appiah will sketch a picture of what these identities have in common and explore some of the ways they matter for ethics.
Kwame Anthony Appiah is a renowned Ghanaian-British-American philosopher whose work addresses issues of identity, race, ethics, and cosmopolitanism. Born in London in 1954 and raised in Ghana, Appiah earned his PhD in philosophy from Clare College, Cambridge. He has held prestigious academic positions at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton and currently teaches philosophy and law at New York University.
Appiah’s work is known for its interdisciplinary approach, blending philosophy with cultural studies and politics. Among his most significant books is The Ethics of Identity (2005), which delves into the balance between personal identity and collective belonging. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (2006) argues for a global ethics based on shared values across cultures. The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen (2010) examines how changes in ideas of honor have driven significant moral transformations in societies. His latest book, The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity (2018), challenges fixed notions of identity, advocating for a more fluid and interconnected understanding.
In 2016, Appiah was awarded the Spinozalens Prize for his contributions to ethics and society. He also received the prestigious prestigious National Humanities Medal 2011, awarded by President Obama, and in 2024 the John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, The Library of Congress. A respected public intellectual, Appiah writes the "Ethicist" column for The New York Times Magazine.
The Tans Lecture is organised every year to honour Dr. J. Tans (1912-1993), the founding father of Maastricht University.
Photo Kwame Anthony Appiah - Credit Dan Turello Library of Congress
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