Strangers and Patriots: Anthony Kwame Appiah and the Ethics of Identity

In this chapter, Afolayan attempts to unravel the identity dynamics within the tropes of nationalism and cosmopolitanism that has become a significant discourse in contemporary political philosophy. Anthony Kwame Appiah provides a particularly significant ethical argument that allows us not only to understand the provenance and ethical import of cosmopolitanism, but more significantly, his understanding of the ethics of identity allows for a more robust understanding of what he calls “a wishy washy cosmopolitanism” that facilitates a mid-point between cosmopolitanism and patriotism. This chapter critically interrogates Appiah’s cosmopolitan patriotism and its ethical implications for understanding the relationship between strangers and patriots.