Read The Lies that Bind Rethinking Identity Kwame Anthony Appiah 9781631495977 Books
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As seen on the Netflix series Explained
From the best-selling author of Cosmopolitanism comes this revealing exploration of how the collective identities that shape our polarized world are riddled with contradiction.Who do you think you are? That’s a question bound up in another What do you think you are? Gender. Religion. Race. Nationality. Class. Culture. Such affiliations give contours to our sense of self, and shape our polarized world. Yet the collective identities they spawn are riddled with contradictions, and cratered with falsehoods.
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s The Lies That Bind is an incandescent exploration of the nature and history of the identities that define us. It challenges our assumptions about how identities work. We all know there are conflicts between identities, but Appiah shows how identities are created by conflict. Religion, he demonstrates, gains power because it isn’t primarily about belief. Our everyday notions of race are the detritus of discarded nineteenth-century science. Our cherished concept of the sovereign nation―of self-rule―is incoherent and unstable. Class systems can become entrenched by efforts to reform them. Even the very idea of Western culture is a shimmering mirage.
From Anton Wilhelm Amo, the eighteenth-century African child who miraculously became an eminent European philosopher before retiring back to Africa, to Italo Svevo, the literary marvel who changed citizenship without leaving home, to Appiah’s own father, Joseph, an anticolonial firebrand who was ready to give his life for a nation that did not yet exist, Appiah interweaves keen-edged argument with vibrant narratives to expose the myths behind our collective identities.
These “mistaken identities,†Appiah explains, can fuel some of our worst atrocities―from chattel slavery to genocide. And yet, he argues that social identities aren’t something we can simply do away with. They can usher in moral progress and bring significance to our lives by connecting the small scale of our daily existence with larger movements, causes, and concerns.
Elaborating a bold and clarifying new theory of identity, The Lies That Bind is a ringing philosophical statement for the anxious, conflict-ridden twenty-first century. This book will transform the way we think about who―and what―“we†are.
Read The Lies that Bind Rethinking Identity Kwame Anthony Appiah 9781631495977 Books
"I found this book disappointing. Appiah tells piles and piles and piles of stories, many interesting and entertaining, but what does it all add up to? The storytelling doesn't lead to conclusions that are developed to any significant degree. The first chapter is the most philosophical, but odd as a starting point. Appiah buys into anti-essentialism about sex and gender and then proposes the same view about color, country, culture, class, etc. But anti-essentialism about sex is pretty controversial and dubious (the usual arguments about intersex states are repeated uncritically by Appiah, and easily challenged). By contrast, anti-essentialism about country, culture, and class are much more evident and plausible. So what did the consideration of sex buy the author? And as to color, what conclusions about race can really be drawn from what we say about sex? Arguably, sex and race are different phenomena, in need of very different arguments.
At the end of book, one expects a full chapter developing the ideas of the title. Is identity really a "lie"? Does it "bind" in the sense of being constricting? Does it "bind" in the sense of creating community? All that story-telling, chapter after chapter, and yet no, we never come to much of a pay off. There are few pages at the end, mostly in a mere "coda", as if these topics were an afterthought. But not the careful, full discussion you would expect from an eminent philosopher who has written academic books on identity. It's as if the author bumped up against his publisher's deadline and didn't have time to finish the book.
Appiah is incredibly erudite and a fantastic writer. Hence, three stars. But beware--don't read if you're looking for an exploration of identity, but only if you want to read some great stories about various identities."
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Tags : The Lies that Bind Rethinking Identity [Kwame Anthony Appiah] on . <strong>As seen on the Netflix series <em>Explained</em></strong> <strong>From the best-selling author of <em>Cosmopolitanism</em> comes this revealing exploration of how the collective identities that shape our polarized world are riddled with contradiction.</strong> Who do you think you are? That’s a question bound up in another What do you think you are? Gender. Religion. Race. Nationality. Class. Culture. Such affiliations give contours to our sense of self,Kwame Anthony Appiah,The Lies that Bind Rethinking Identity,Liveright,1631495976,GENERAL,General Adult,History/Social History,Non-Fiction,PHILOSOPHY / General,PHILOSOPHY / Social,Philosophy,Social Science/Discrimination Racism,Social Science/Ethnic Studies - General,Social Science/Social Classes Economic Disparity,Social Science/Sociology - General,United States
The Lies that Bind Rethinking Identity Kwame Anthony Appiah 9781631495977 Books Reviews :
The Lies that Bind Rethinking Identity Kwame Anthony Appiah 9781631495977 Books Reviews
- The Lies that Bind is an important book about an obviously important topic. Not many topics are discussed as often as identity but Kwame Appiah is still able to bring a fresh perspective to the subject all the while writing with clarity and in a style which can be understood by academics and non-academics alike. I happen to disagree with many of the conclusions but I will try to focus this review more on what the author wanted to say and less on my particular reactions.
Appiah first recognizes the enormous importance given to issues of identity in the modern world. These identities— whether racial, religious, national or cultural—tend to be viewed through an essentialist lens they are real things that express themselves in individuals.
Appiah rightly dismantles the essentialist account. Instead he offers his own theory that identities are merely labels which correspond with certain expected behaviors and certain expected treatment by others. One can try to change these norms but the labels are shared by a wider community and so ultimately one must persuade the wider public that a change in attitude is necessary. (A recent example of this is society’s change in attitude towards homosexuals.)
To accomplish this dismantling Appiah advances example upon example of the fluidity of identity labels. While gender may be appear to be binary there are in fact many intersex people. While we tend to view religions as creeds there are many different beliefs within one community. And while people do have different skin colors there is no such thing as a race.
The problem with this dismantling is that Appiah oversimplifies the construction of these identities. While genetic aberrations may occur that make some people not fully biologically male or female this doesn’t prove that gender is a mere label anymore than any other genetic malfunction causes humanity to lack a certain characteristic. And while, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, many churches began stressing their respective creeds, the example of many beliefs within one faith community does not prove that there are no core teachings any more than the fact that libertarians disagree on drug legalization proves that libertarians do not have an essential belief towards limited government. Finally, the idea that race as reported by the census bureau is largely a social construct does not mean that genetic differences don’t exist between different peoples around the world that can partially explain differences in culture.
In short, while not an essentialist, I simply don’t agree that all identities are merely labels with no core meaning whatsoever. While sympathetic to Appiah’s defense of those marginalized by identity, I do not believe that all identities are lies which bind. Some identities are meaningful though Appiah’s deconstructions are worth considering before opting for a very rigid notion of identity.
Wonderfully written with a sincere effort to provoke thought and better the world I do recommend this book to all even though I must disagree with some of its major conclusions. - I enjoy books written by philosophers for a general audience because they usually demonstrate such clear thinking. That is certainly the case with this book and the author has taken on an important and somewhat sensitive topic. He does an outstanding job of showing how the identities we take on are flawed and full of contradictions. We often have little in common with those with whom we identify . Therefore the title "The Lies That Bind". Interestingly enough though the author admits these identities are necessary for us to function well in society. I think the importance in this book and especially at this time lies in the fact that it so clearly emphasizes that we need to stop using identity as if everyone who takes on that identity has the same experiences, circumstances, or goals. That's the problem with the current identity politics. It doesn't recognize the fact that in the end we are all individuals. Highly recommended!
- I found this book disappointing. Appiah tells piles and piles and piles of stories, many interesting and entertaining, but what does it all add up to? The storytelling doesn't lead to conclusions that are developed to any significant degree. The first chapter is the most philosophical, but odd as a starting point. Appiah buys into anti-essentialism about sex and gender and then proposes the same view about color, country, culture, class, etc. But anti-essentialism about sex is pretty controversial and dubious (the usual arguments about intersex states are repeated uncritically by Appiah, and easily challenged). By contrast, anti-essentialism about country, culture, and class are much more evident and plausible. So what did the consideration of sex buy the author? And as to color, what conclusions about race can really be drawn from what we say about sex? Arguably, sex and race are different phenomena, in need of very different arguments.
At the end of book, one expects a full chapter developing the ideas of the title. Is identity really a "lie"? Does it "bind" in the sense of being constricting? Does it "bind" in the sense of creating community? All that story-telling, chapter after chapter, and yet no, we never come to much of a pay off. There are few pages at the end, mostly in a mere "coda", as if these topics were an afterthought. But not the careful, full discussion you would expect from an eminent philosopher who has written academic books on identity. It's as if the author bumped up against his publisher's deadline and didn't have time to finish the book.
Appiah is incredibly erudite and a fantastic writer. Hence, three stars. But beware--don't read if you're looking for an exploration of identity, but only if you want to read some great stories about various identities. - The book main thesis is that the clustering of people by their religion, nation, race, class etc. is based on quite confused ideas. Unless one believes in the Aristotelian idea of natural kinds this thesis is not amazing. But I enjoyed reading the book since it includes many interesting facts that refute common expectations in regards to our identities.
- A timely and erudite inquiry into the forces driving identity politics - class, creed, race, etc.. Appiah nonetheless seems to be reluctant to draw any conclusions - perhaps for fear of giving offense. I had hoped to learn more about Appiah's philosophy of "cosmopolitanism", but came away with little more than platitudes about "tolerance is good".
