Anthony Appiah Lecture

I found Professor Appiah's convocation interesting, but ultimately very broad and generalizing. He made a good point about the role of honor in society, or respect more specifically, and the need for sustained dialogue about our values as a community. But this is such an immense topic that it raises more questions than it answers. How do we get such a dialogue started? In the case of international dialogue, who gets to start that dialogue? How can we avoid simply one culture/way of thinking imposing itself on another culture/way of thinking? Where do we draw the line between what needs to be changed and what is simply cultural difference? The case is obvious in situations like foot binding or FGC, but what about something like arranged marriage, which is in more of a moral/ethical gray area.

Appiah's ideas obviously coincide with McLuhan's emphasis on global connectedness via technology. In some ways I think Appiah's honor discourse is already in effect via the internet. Through the web we are more able to talk to each other than ever before, and we have been able to spark important social and political conversations through this technology. And yet, if Appiah advises caution in this type of discourse in person, even more care must be taken through technology, since it seems to be several times easier to inflame someone with even the best of intentions. Not to mention some people are more willing to be intentionally hateful on the internet because of the anonymity it provides. All of these complications essentially go back to what I first said about Appiah's argument: it makes sense, but it's incredibly complex and not as simple to implement as he makes it sound.