Kwame Anthony Appiah

Appiah during a visit to Knox College

Kwame Anthony Appiah (1954-) is a philosopher whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. He was born in London, raised in Kumasi, Ghana, and educated at Bryanston School and Clare College, Cambridge, where he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy. His father was the Ghanaian politician and barrister Joe Appiah, and his mother was Peggy Cripps, a children's-book author and a daughter of Sir Stafford Cripps.

He has taught philosophy and African and African-American studies at the University of Ghana, Cambridge, Duke, Cornell, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton Universities. He is currently Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton (with a cross-appointment at the University Center for Human Values). Appiah also served on the board of PEN American Center, and was on a panel of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own Award. He is openly gay and lives with his partner in a loft in Chelsea, Manhattan.

He has been a close collaborator with Henry Louis Gates Jr., together with whom he is an editor for Transition Magazine.

In 1992, Appiah published In My Father's House, which won the Herskovitz Prize for African Studies in English; among his later books are Colour Conscious (with Amy Gutmann), The Ethics of Identity, which appeared in 2005, and Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (2006).

Appiah's early philosophical work dealt with probabilistic semantics and theories of meaning, but his more recent books have tackled philosophical problems of race and racism, identity, and moral theory. His fiction consists of drawing-room detective stories; none of his three novels has gained a wide audience. The first, Avenging Angel, set in the University of Cambridge, involved a murder among the Cambridge Apostles. His second and third novels are Nobody Likes Letitia and Another Death in Venice.

Critics of Appiah

Appiah has been strongly criticised by Molefi Asante [1] for allegedly being "anti-African".

See also

• African philosophy

Publications

Books

• Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006.
• The Ethics of Identity (2005) Princeton University Press
• Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Africana: The Concise Desk Reference. edited with H.L. Gates Jr. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2003.
• Kosmpolitische Patriotismus. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2002.
• Bu Me Bé: The Proverbs of the Akan. With Peggy Appiah, and with the assistance of Ivor Agyeman-Duah. Accra: The Center for Intellectual Renewal, 2002.
• Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race. With Amy Gutman, introduction by David Wilkins. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996.
• In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture. London: Methuen, 1992; New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Necessary Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy. New York: Prentice-Hall/Calmann & King, 1989.
• For Truth in Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell's, 1986.
• Assertion and Conditionals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Novels

• Another Death in Venice: A Sir Patrick Scott Investigation. London: Constable, 1995.
• Nobody Likes Letitia. London: Constable, 1994.
• Avenging Angel. London: Constable, 1990; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.

Edited volumes

• Early African-American Classics. (edited with an introduction) New York: Bantam, 1990.
• Langston Hughes: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Zora Neale Hurston: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Gloria Naylor: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Alice Walker: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Richard Wright: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Chinua Achebe: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1993.
• Ann Petry: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1994.
• Frederick Douglass: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Amistad Literary Series. New York: Amistad Press, 1994.
• Identities. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1995.
• A Dictionary of Global Culture. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Knopf, 1996.
• Encarta Africana. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft, 1999.
• Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Basic-Civitas, 1999.
• Encarta Africana 2000. Ed. with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft, 1999.
• The Poetry of our World: An International Anthology of Contemporary Poetry. Ed. by Jeffrey Paine with Kwame Anthony Appiah, Sven Birkerts, Joseph Brodsky, Carolyn Forché, and Helen Vendler (Edited and introduced African section.) New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000.

Selected essays

• “Understanding reparations: a preliminary reflection”. Forthcoming in Cahiers d’ Etudes Africaine.
• “Stereotypes and the Shaping of Identity.” In Prejudicial Appearances: The Logic of American Anti-Discrimination Law by Robert C. Post, with K. Anthony Appiah, Judith Butler, Thomas C. Grey, and Reva B. Siegel. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001. p. 55-71.
• “Grounding Human Rights.” In Human Rights As Politics and Idolatry by Michael Ignatieff with commentaries by K. Anthony Appiah, David Hollinger, Thomas W. Laqueur and Diane F. Orentlicher, edited by Amy Gutmann. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. p. 101-116.
• “Aufklärung und Dialog der Kulturen,” In Zukunftsstreit, ed. by Wilhelm Krull. Weilerswist: Velbrück Wissenschaft, 2000. p.305-328.
• “Yambo Ouolouguem and the Meaning of Postcoloniality.” In Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant. Christopher Wise (ed.) Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999. p.55-63.
• “Race, Pluralism and Afrocentricity” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 19 (Spring 1998) p.116-118.
• “Identity: Political not Cultural.” In Field Work: Sites in Literary and Cultural Studies. Marjorie Garber, Rebecca L. Walkowitz, Paul B. Franklin (eds.) New York: Routledge, 1997. p.34-40.
• “Is the 'Post-' in 'Postcolonial' the 'Post-' in 'Postmodern'?”. In Dangerous Liaisons. Anne McClintock, Aamir Mufti, Ella Shohat (eds. and introd.) MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. p.420-444.
• “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, No.17. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1996. p.51-136.
• “Philosophy and Necessary Questions.” in Readings in African Philosophy: An Akan Collection. Safro Kwame (ed.) Washington, DC: University Press of America, 1995. p.1-22.
• “Identity, Authenticity, Survival: Multicultural Societies and Social Reproduction.” In Multiculturalism: Examining "The Politics of Recognition." An essay by Charles Taylor, with commentary by Amy Gutmann (editor), K. Anthony Appiah, Jürgen Habermas, Steven C. Rockefeller, Michael Walzer, Susan Wolf. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. p.149-164.
• “The Impact of African Studies on Philosophy.” With V. Y. Mudimbe. In The Impact of African Studies on the Disciplines. Edited by Robert Bates, V. Y. Mudimbe and Jean O'Barr. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1993. p.113-138.
• “African-American Philosophy?” Philosophical Forum. Vol. XXIV, Nos. 1-3 (Fall-Spring 1992-93) p.1-24. Reprinted in African-American Philosophical Perspectives and Philosophical Traditions, p. 11-34. John Pittman (ed.) New York: Routledge, 1997.
• “African Identities.” In Constructions identitaires: questionnements théoriques et études de cas. Jean-Loup Amselle, Anthony Appiah, Shaka Bagayogo, Jean-Pierre Chrétien, Jocelyne Dakhlia, Ernest Gellner, Richard LaRue, Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, Jerzy Topolski, Fernande Saint-Martin sous la direction de Bogumil Jewsiewicki et Jocelyn Létourneau Actes du Célat No. 6, Mai 1992. CÉLAT, Université Laval, 1992.
• “Introductory Essay.” Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Everyman, 1992.
• “Inventing an African Practice in Philosophy: Epistemological Issues.” In The Surreptitious Speech: Présence Africaine and the Politics of Otherness 1947-1987. V.Y. Mudimbe (ed.) (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992) pp. 227-237.
• “But would that still be me? Notes on gender, `race,' ethnicity as sources of identity.” The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. LXXXVII, No. 10 (October 1990) p.493-499.
• “Alexander Crummell and the Invention of Africa.” The Massachusetts Review, Vol. XXXI, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990) p.385-406.
• “Tolerable Falsehoods: Agency and the Interests of Theory.” In Consequences of Theory. Barbara Johnson & Jonathan Arac (eds.) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991 p.63-90.
• “Racisms.” In Anatomy of Racism. David Goldberg (ed.) Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press, 1990. p.3-17.
• “Race.” In Critical Terms for Literary Study. Frank Lentricchia & Tom McLaughlin (eds.) Chicago University Press, 1989. p. 274-287.
• “Out of Africa: Topologies of Nativism.” The Yale Journal of Criticism, 2.1, (1988) p.153-178.
• “A Long Way From Home: Richard Wright in the Gold Coast.” In Richard Wright. Harold Bloom (ed.) New York: Chelsea House, Modern Critical Views, 1987. p. 173-190.
• “Racism and Moral Pollution.” Philosophical Forum, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 2-3 (Winter-Spring, 1986-1987. p.185-202. *“The Uncompleted Argument: Du Bois and the Illusion of Race.” Critical Inquiry, 12, (Autumn 1985).
• “Are We Ethnic? The Theory and Practice of American Pluralism.” Black American Literature Forum, 20 (Spring-Summer 1986) p.209-224.
• "Deconstruction and the Philosophy of Language." Diacritics, Spring 1986, p. 49-64
• "The Importance of Triviality." Philosophical Review, 95 (April 1986) p. 209-231.
• "Verificationism and the Manifestations of Meaning." Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 59 (1985) p. 17-31.
• "Soyinka and the Philosophy of Culture." In Philosophy in Africa: Trends and Perspectives. P.O. Bodunrin (ed.) Ile-Ife: University of Ife Press, 1985. p.250-263.
• "Generalizing the Probabilistic Semantics of Conditionals." Journal of Philosophical Logic, 13 (1985) p.351-372.
• "An Argument Against Anti-realist Semantics." Mind 93, (October 1984) p.559-565.
• "On Structuralism and African Fiction: An analytic critique." Black American Literature Forum, 15 (Winter 1981). In Black Literature and Literary Theory Henry Louis Gates Jr. (ed.) London: Methuen, 1984. p.127-150.
• "Structuralist Criticism and African fiction: an Analytic Critique.” Black American Literature Forum, 15. 4 (Winter 1981) p.165-174.

External links

• Appiah discusses, The Ethics of Identity, at the Carnegie Council
• Appiah's Princeton home page
• Appiah's personal page
• "The Ethics of Identity" Radio interview
• "What is Race?" Radio interview