Theo 101-08 9/15/2013

Anthony Appiah’s view of how intercultural communication can be possible is described

very well by this quote from the Kasidah:

“There is no Good, there is no Bad;

these be the whims of mortal will…”

Appiah explains that everyone has different view about almost everything and as this quote
shows, there is no right or wrong. Appiah later reinforces this idea with another quote from Sir
Richard Burton’s Persian Letters:

“All Faith is false, all Faith is true;

Truth is the shattered mirror strown
In myriad bits; while each believes
His little bit is the whole to own.

This quote conveys to me that all faiths are partially correct, but we all just have a small piece of
the puzzle. But most people believe that their little piece is all there is. This quote really speaks
to me as I feel that I really agree with Appiah. I feel that no one knows who is wrong and who is
right, and it is most likely that we are all wrong. So people shouldn’t fight over the idea of being
right because it benefits no one. Instead we should just accept that we do not and cannot know
what is right and allow everyone to believe what they think is right. He also states that we as
human beings have a responsibility for every other person on earth. So we essentially have a
duty to make everyone believe that everyone can think what they want, and therein lies the
problem with this idea.
As Appiah said: “Still, this live-and-let-live attitude is not shared by everyone.” which is
why his proposal is not a realistic one. It’s a great idea, but in the end if people believe what they
want to believe, then people are perfectly able to believe that people shouldn’t be allowed to
believe what they want to believe, and that is where the fighting begins. When people disagree
they are just bound to fight and that is a sad but true fact of our human existence.