The Shattered Mirror

The Shattered Mirror, is a short excerpt written by Kwame Anthony Appiah, explaining the idea of “cosmopolitanism,” through the use of an extended metaphor. The author uses the life of Sir Richard Burton as an explanation of “cosmopolitanism,” and “anti-cosmopolitanism.” The author effectively defines these terms, and explains why we should be willing to adopt “cosmopolitanism,” by use of allusions, metaphors, and sarcasm. Appiah exemplifies Burton as both “cosmopolitan,” and “anti-cosmopolitan,” and defines “cosmopolitanism,” as “recognition that human beings are different and that we can learn from each other’s differences (paragraph 7),” and “the recognition of our responsibility for every human being (paragraph 11).” The Shattered Mirror’s …show more content…
As previously discussed, Burton is portrayed as a well-traveled, cultured, socialite. He is described as travelling to Mecca, India, the Americas, and many other places. That being said, the author makes it a point explaining his lack of responsibility for others, the first strand of cosmopolitanism. Examples of Appiahs sarcastic criticism are seen throughout the text. In paragraph 3, Appiah describes Burton as a Christian, then in paragraph 7, calls him, “… an agnostic of a scientific bent…” which shows how Burton is a hypocrite in his own right. He claims Christian faith, but also immerses himself in the beliefs that, often, seek to discourage Christianity. Appiahs goal here is to an appeal to logic, by showing the inconsistency in Burtons ideology. Moreover, when discussing how to become “cosmopolitan,” without forfeiting your own values, in the Beyond the Mirror portion of the excerpt, Appiah makes a statement alluding to the 1960’s peace movements. The paragraph uses marriage as a metaphor. Appiah states, “[Married people ought to keep their pledges to their spouse unless you are] a rare survivor of one of those experiments with free love that erupted in the 1960’s.” Appiah draws a comparison between the progressive ideology of the free love movement, and the illogical idea, that we should adopt other cultures as our own. The importance is not the metaphor, but in what the metaphor stands for. Comparing a seemingly conservative man, in modern terms, to a progressive movement is somewhat ironic. This comparison shows the lack of logic in Burtons ideology, and is, therefore, an appeal to logic, in and of

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