Mistaken Identities: Culture
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah explores the idea of culture and why the concept of 'western culture' is a mistaken one.
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah explores the confusions of identity through an examination of four central kinds - creed, country, color and culture. Through the lives of particular people in particular places and times, we see how the confusions play out, but also how they can be cleared up.
Based around the story of Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, the father of modern social anthropology, Appiah argues that the idea of “Western civilization” or “Western culture” is a mistaken one and that we should abandon it.
(Photo: European Union and UK flags spraypainted on a tunnel wall next to a Brexit slogan)