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Biography
Ghanaian-British-American

Kwame Anthony Appiah

1954

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Ghanaian-British-American philosopher and cultural theorist whose work — including In My Father's House (1992), Cosmopolitanism (2006), and The Lies That Bind (2018) — has shaped contemporary thinking about identity, race, cosmopolitanism, and moral philosophy. He writes the New York Times Magazine's 'The Ethicist' column.

Past sales0
PeriodContemporary
NationalityGhanaian-British-American
1. Biography

A short life of the author

Kwame Anthony Appiah (b. 8 May 1954) was born in London to a Ghanaian father, Joe Appiah (a politician and lawyer), and an English mother, Peggy Cripps (daughter of the Labour politician Sir Stafford Cripps). He grew up in Kumasi, Ghana, and was educated at Cambridge.

Life and Career

In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture (1992) — which argues against racial essentialism and for a complex understanding of African identity — is his foundational work. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (2006) — a defense of the idea that we have obligations to all human beings, not just our compatriots — is his most widely read book.

The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen (2010) argues that moral change often comes not from philosophical argument but from shifts in honor culture. The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity (2018) examines how the categories we use to define ourselves — creed, country, color, class, culture — are more fluid and contingent than we imagine.

Major Works and Themes

Appiah writes about identity, cosmopolitanism, moral philosophy, and the politics of culture. He is one of the most important public intellectuals working today.

Key Works

  • Cosmopolitanism (2006)
  • The Lies That Bind (2018)

Collecting Appiah

In My Father’s House first edition (Oxford, 1992) brings $20–$60. Cosmopolitanism (Norton, 2006) signed copies bring $30–$80. Appiah continues to publish.