Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
Blog Posts, and Podcasts
Aspen Ideas to Go Podcast: A Conversation Across Cultures
April 23, 2015
The “Aspen Ideas to Go” podcast is a weekly show featuring fascinating speakers who have presented at the Aspen Ideas Festival and other public programs offered by the Aspen Institute — including Aspen Words, the Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series, and various events around the country. For a curated listening experience subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or listen to each episode on the Aspen Ideas website.
In this lecture, philosopher, cultural theorist, and author Kwame Anthony Appiah rejects the idea that cross-cultural conversations often lead to the discovery of irreconcilable differences.
The argument holds that conversations across groups about ethical questions breakdown because each culture has different and incompatible ethical starting points. Appiah maintains such an argument is mistaken. Because, he says, many people have found cross-cultural encounters to be among the most rewarding experiences in their lives and without them, we have little chance of solving the global problems that we face.
Tricia Johnson is editorial director of public programs at the Aspen Institute.
