Q0631

“We have obligations to others that stretch beyond those to whom we…” — Kwame Anthony Appiah (Cosmopolitanism, two strands)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Cosmopolitanism, two strands. Theme: ethics.

English

We have obligations to others that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by ties of kith and kind; and we must take seriously the value not just of human life but of particular human lives.
Thinker Kwame Anthony Appiah
School Africana Philosophy
Source Cosmopolitanism, two strands
Theme Ethics
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Cosmopolitanism, two strands and files it under Africana Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Kwame Anthony Appiah

Kwame Anthony Appiah (b. 1954) is a British-Ghanaian philosopher who has taught at Princeton, NYU, and elsewhere.

How to read this passage

Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Kwame Anthony Appiah and Simone de Beauvoir), ethics is framed through Africana Philosophy and Existentialism. Some passages define ethics; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through ethics, responsibility, otherness.

Concepts in this quote

Ethics
Ethics appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat ethics as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
Responsibility
Responsibility asks what we answer for—our choices, omissions, institutions, and the futures we help create.
Otherness
Otherness appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat otherness as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Kwame Anthony Appiah. (n.d.). We have obligations to others that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by ties of kith and kind; and we must take seriously the value not just of human life but of particular human lives. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0631

MLA: Kwame Anthony Appiah. “We have obligations to others that stretch beyond….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0631.

Chicago: Kwame Anthony Appiah. “We have obligations to others that stretch beyond….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0631.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “We have obligations to others that stretch beyond…”?

The passage is attributed to Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism, two strands. The archive attributes this English wording to Cosmopolitanism, two strands and files it under Africana Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Kwame Anthony Appiah mean by ethics?

Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Kwame Anthony Appiah and Simone de Beauvoir), ethics is framed through Africana Philosophy and Existentialism. Some passages define ethics; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through ethics, responsibility, otherness.

Explore Kwame Anthony Appiah on ethics

Same thinker

More from Kwame Anthony Appiah

  1. Conversation doesn't have to lead to consensus about anything, especially not values; it's enough that it helps people get used to one another.
  2. The version of cosmopolitanism that I favor is exactly about balancing universality and difference.
  3. Relativism of that sort isn't a way to encourage conversation; it's just a reason to fall silent.
  4. A value is like a fax machine: it's not much use if you're the only one who has one.
  5. Cosmopolitans begin with a sense of one thing we all certainly share, which is our fallibility. Nobody has reason to be confident that they're right about everything.

All quotations by Kwame Anthony Appiah

Same theme

More on ethics

  1. To will oneself free is also to will others free.
  2. The Master said: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
  3. Care for one another impartially, and benefit one another mutually.
  4. It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.
  5. The freedom of others… conditions my freedom.

Browse the ethics theme