Two Sides of the Same Coin
We live in a world full of paradoxes. To balance both tolerance and intolerance, sharing and claiming, kindness and selfishness, is a dream far from reality. You can only go from one side to another to maintain balance, but really you’re just adjusting back and forth until you get closer and closer to your goal. However, that goal is like an exponential, you never really reach zero you just get really really close to it. In Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism, he explores this fine line balance in the concepts discussing choices and perspectives.
Humans have many things in common. Almost too much in common that we try to differentiate ourselves to somewhat stand out as our own person. But in the end, we are still very much alike.
When we discuss topics, it can lead to one of two ways: mutual understanding and accept, or outright disagreement & dispute. From the acceptance approach, by “Understanding one another may be hard; it can certainly be interesting. But it doesn’t require that we come to agreement.” (Appiah 78) This allows us to become exposed to the many perspectives others have around us that we could not view from our own. Just like the perspective activity we had done at the very beginning of our course. Because “Cosmopolitans think human variety matters because people are entitled to the options they need to shape their lives in partnership with others.” (Appiah 104) It is the power of absorbing, filtering, and responding constructively to information that allows us to see a topic or scenario more than one way. When “Conversation doesn’t have to lead to consensus about anything, especially not values; its enough that it helps people get used to one another.” (Appiah 85). We gain a sort of tolerance to each other, which allows us to view things more objectively rather than subjectively.
On the other hand, there can be complete disagreement and arguments made towards the same topic, and sometimes, it can get heated. “A large part of what we do we do because it is just what we do.” (Appiah 73) And when there are people would have certain degrees of intolerance, conflicts occur. It’s interesting that “What makes these conflicts so intense is that they are battles over the meaning of the same values, noth that they oppose one value, held antagonists.” (Appiah 81) “It’s not that they don’t matter; its that they have earned our hatred or contempt. They deserve what we are doing to them” (Appiah 152) This shadows our mechanism to understand and gain perspective form another’s point of view, because not all values have a single measure (Appiah 166).
Take two principles that mean similar things:
“If you can prevent something bad form happening at the cost of something less bad, you ought to do it[ — Singer Principle]” (Appiah 160)
“If you are the person in the best position to prevent something really awful, and it won’t cost you much to do so, do it. [- emergency principle]” (Appiah 161)
These two quotes are means of preventing something bad to happen, but like my favorite phrase, “It really depends on the situation do we execute certain tasks”. For example, Appiah depicts the scenario of a drowning child in a shallow pond and we are the only ones there to prevent the child’s imminent death. Well, if ruining our favorite outfit to save the child was okay with us, or more important, then we would save the child. However, if our outfit or shoes or if there was any other circumstance that was worse to us than saving the child, then we probably would let the child die. Same scenario, different perspectives. And it is based on what is important to us.
But, for the most part, these values are based on what we’ve grown up with or the culture we were raised on. Many of these“Cultures are made of continuities and changes, and the identity of a society can survive through these changes, just as each individual survives alterations of Jacques’s ‘seven ages of man’” (Appiah 107) But “Cultural purity is an oxymoron. The odds are that culturally speaking, you already live a cosmopolitan life, enriched by literature, art, and film that come from many places, and that contains influences from many more.” (Appiah 113) This in turn shapes how we view things and gain perspectives amoung ourselves and each other.
With Young Mom’s Marin, it has definitely shed light into lives that live as equally as I am with some factors that may vary. Overall, their lives, ideas, past histories, and current progress as individuals have made a huge impact on me. They have definitely taught me that life is hard, but it is fun too.
From them, learning to tolerate others and accepting those claims are valid, without assimilating into others ideas or topics, We can better find a collective agreement with each other and view points from all perspectives, to help us absorb, filter, and preach information to each other and make the ideas that matter to the group at the time, happen in the most cosmopolitarian way. By doing so, we may be capable of improving the lifestyles of not only ourselves, but also of others.
