Is what divides mankind more important than what unites it? Are there irreconcilable conflicts between groups of men that can be resolved only by conquest and submission, or worse still by the eradication of one or of some of them? How would the correspondent of a Martian newspaper, with no axe to grind, answer these questions for the folks back home?
Anthony Appiah, who grew up in Ghana, was educated in England and now teaches philosophy at Princeton, believes that our differences can be rendered less conflictual provided that we remain as open to what we have in common as to what divides us. All cultures have the concept of politeness, for example, though the actual behaviour that counts as politeness varies quite widely between them. Because everyone understands the concept, however, it is perfectly possible for a man to learn different codes of good manners as and when required. In fact, we do this on a small scale all the time: what we say to our friends in a bar is not what we would say to a panel at a job interview.
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