The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity Paperback – 7 Nov. 2019

Really wonderful book

reading

This is a most interesting study of issues relating to identity. It makes effective use of a range of interesting material, and the author's background - British upper middle class, and Ghanaian aristocracy - gave it a fascinating feel. It originated in the author's Reith Lectures, and this is likely to have helped in terms of readability and in the conveying of at times difficult material in an accessible manner. However, I ended up disappointed. There seemed to me, in the end, no really systematic perspective offered, and we were, all too often, left with the presentation of a case without there being space to consider arguments that might have been advanced against it. I think that this book would make an excellent starting-point for group discussion, but that, over and over, one would need to go off into more specialized materials to really get to grips with the issues being raised.

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a philosopher and typical of many philosophers in this book, The Lies That Bind, Appiah wants to avoid a dogmatic approach to rethinking identity. He aims to take a discoursive approach to: "the ideas that have shaped the modern rise of identity". He wants to provide: "an assortment of concepts and theories" to enable the reader to think for him or herself. Appiah states that he has been writing and rumination about identity for more than 3 decades this indicates someone with a high level of expertise in this area.Perhaps a question to ask is how well does Appiah's expertise stack up in this book? The title of the book rests on a paradox of identities. Appiah quite rightly points out that identies such as religion, nationalism, class, race and culture "divides us and set us against one another". These identities are sometimes based on errors but at the same time as dividing us these identities unite us. The errors need reforming because they make it possible for us to act together. Therefore, paradoxically, they are the lies that bind us together.It could be said that a significant idea Appiah wants to debunk is that the survival and transmission of identity across time is underpinned by a true essence - he calls this essentialism. Through out the book Appiah strives to debunk this idea. He is right to opt for a more fluid idea of identity. He points out that essences change across time and place which effctively means that identties can be shaped and held togather by narratives.So why has identity taken on the importance that it attracks today? It sems to me that the answer can be found in the early pages of the book. No matter what weight is accorded to the notion: this is my identity, in other words, this is who I am an important significance lies in the idea of the social identification of individuals. Drawing on the American sociologist, Alvin W Gouldner, Appiah draws to our attention that: "corresponding to diffierent social identities are differing sets of expectations, differing configuration of rights and obligations". The social identification of an individual by a group of people effectively pigeonholes that person with potential serious negative consequences and hence one of the reasons why identity has become important.Appiah's position then is that every identity is made up of "labels, stereotypes and ideas of ourselves and others perception of us. But such notion does not fit in with the current rage of identity politics where one is left with the impression that identity is purely subjective. The stance seems to be that it is up to me, as an individual, to define who I am. But it could be said tht such a stance is solely subjective and it is ultimately not static but dynamic according to my wim and fancy. Appiah's book is an antidote to such folly. He encapsulate this folly by reminding us that: "an identity cannot simply be imposed upon me, willy-nilly, but neither is an identity up to me, a contrivance that I can shape however I please".One of the things that Appiah does well is to analise certain concepts that are found in various practices, ideas, and beliefs such as creed, country, colour, class and culture. His analysis reveals the ambiguities and contradictions that run throught these concepts. For example, in the chapter that addresses the issue of creed, we are told that some Christians think Juesus was in some sense God but for others he was just a very special human being. Appiah goes on to point out that both sides can cite scripture to support their case. I think Appiah's point is that despite the differences beteween these two camps they are nonetheless bound together under the creed of Christianity.The Lies That Bind is a stimulating read because in order for Appiah to make the case for his stance on identity, he gives us an interesting mixture of the history of ideas and autobiography. There are vignettes of the philosopher Hegel regarding nationalism, insights into nineteenth romanticism and honest accounts of Appiah's own personal history.On the whole, the narrative is rendered through the personal stories of of various people. For example, the socialist thinker, Michael Young in the chapter on class. One result of this is that there are passages in the book that depart from Appiah's main thesis about identity. For me this did not detract from the book rather it enhanced the story. Indeed, towards the end of the chapter on class in which the life and times of Michael Young is outlined the narrative is quite moving.The Lies That Bind is a relatively short book but nonetheless a profound analysis of identity and is crtainly worth reading.

Robert Coover's recent novel "Huck out West" carries the story of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and related characters through the Civil War to 1876. The story is told in Huck's voice with many observations, some cutting but some insightful. Among the latter sort, Huck says in this book discussing what contemporary readers would recognize as the concept of identity:"Tribes"... They're a powerful curse laid on you when you get born. They ruin you, but you can't get away from them. They're a nightmare a body's got to live with in the daytime." ("Huck out West", p. 215)I was reminded of Huck's pithy observation in reading philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah's thoughtful and learned book, "The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity" (2018) which is based on lectures he delivered for the BBC in 2016 titled "Mistaken Identities". Huck's statement could almost serve as a theme for Appiah. Appiah recognizes the importance of identity to individuals in terms of growth and self-understanding. Individuals are born into groups and we rely on one another in particularized surroundings to meet needs. Still, identities can turn into nightmares of rigidity in thinking of oneself and one's own group or "tribe" and in separating oneself and one's group from others, sometimes demonizing them.Some philosophies and religions are skeptical of concepts of personal identity and would try to do away with them, but that is not Appiah's way. Instead, Appiah tries to loosen but not eliminate ties of identity and to reformulate the understanding of identity in several critical areas of life where identity thinking is at its highest. Broadly, Appiah encourages the reader to eliminate views of essentialism and fixity in understanding one's identity commitments in favor of a more fluid view that recognizes change in what otherwise might seem as a fixed identity and continuity rather than otherness between oneself and others. The approach is broadly cosmopolitan. At the end of the book, Appiah quotes from the dramatist Terrence: "nothing human is foreign to me". Showing a commendable openness, Appiah says the aim of his book is to "start conversations, not to end them". More importantly, he tells the reader that "philosophers contribute to public discussions of moral and political life, I believe, not by telling you what to think but by providing an assortment of concepts and theories you can use to decide what to think for yourself. I will make lots of claims; but however forceful my language, remember always that they are offered up for your consideration, in the light of your own knowledge and experience."The book opens with a chapter discussing among other things the nature of labeling and essentialism in human identity formation. The chapters which follow discuss and try to modify understandings of identity in five broad areas: religion/creed, country, color, class, and culture, each of which is a sensitive subject for many people. Appiah tries to show problems in common essentialist understanding of identity in each area and often ties these problems into various developments in thought in the 19th century which have outlived their usefulness.Although not receiving a chapter of its own, Appiah discusses throughout perhaps an even more pervasive identity concept: the nature of gender and of one's sexuality.Although Appiah stresses what he sees as mistakes in understanding gender and in maleness and femaleness, I found this the weakest portion of the book and less convincing than the discussions in the remaining five chapters.For me, the most persuasive and important identity discussed in the book was creed and religion. Appiah does not try to persuade his readers for or against religion or a particular religion. Rather he points out insightfully and well that people tend to overestimate the importance of belief and creed to religion. He finds that religion is more a shared, changing practice of a group over time even when this shared practice facially involves elements of a creed, such as the recital of articles of faith. Appiah suggests how understandings may change while practices remain shared. He wants to discourage a heavy investment of personal commitment to creedal content and to a fixed separation of oneself from others. The discussions of the remaining four identity components, country, color, class, culture, also are important and worthwhile, although the section on religion had the most to say to me.The book proceeds in various ways, and Appiah's writing is often passionate, personal, and beautiful. The book offers argument and various forms of analysis, but it is more effective on a personal level and in its use of the work of other writers. Appiah uses many details from his own life, as the child of a British mother with ties to peerage and a father from Ghana with ties to Ghana's elite and to Ghana's winning of its independence. His own life shows the nature of loosening but not eliminating ties of identity in favor of a breadth of human understanding, where possible.The book is perhaps even more impressive in the range of learning Appiah shows and the use he makes of the lives and work of others. Appiah calls many other writers and books as witness to his development of a fluid concept of identity, including, for example W.E.B. DuBois, Matthew Arnold, Cavafy, Sir Edward Burnet Tylor, and Philo. He discusses at length Anton Wilhem, a distinguished philosopher and the first African to earn a PhD in philosophy from a European university. But the figure who appears closest to Appiah's heart in this book is the novelist Italio Svevo (Aron Ettore Schmitz) whose novel "Zeno's Consciousness" is a modernistic classic. With a background in both Judaism and Christianity and ties to many nationalities, Svevo developed a cosmopolitanism and an openness to shared identity that appears to be a model for Appiah's own. In one of several passages discussing Svevo and "Zeno's Consciousness", Appiah writes:"Although he once referred to Trieste as a crogiolo assimilatore -- an assimilating crucible, or melting pot -- Svevo knew how much remained unmelted. His Zeno is, above all, a walker in the city, a boulevardier and rambler, moving from one neighborhood to another. He is also a man always struggling with his own irresolution, always smoking his 'last cigarette', always betraying his ideals, and forever scrutinizing his own prejudices and preferences like a quizzical enthographer. He wants to confront uncomfortable truths -- to side with reality, however much it stings." (p86)Appiah clearly writes from the more liberal end of the political spectrum, but enjoying and learning from this book does not involve a commitment to a political creed. Appiah has written a provocative, thoughtful account of the nature of identity and of hot-button issues in identity that helped me and may help others with this treacherous subject. Perhaps, with modification, loosening, and thought, identity does not have to be the "nightmare a body's got to live with in the daytime" that Huck found it to be in Coover's novel.Robin Friedman

Appiah combines a sophisticated understanding of philosophy with insights provided by being a gay black man with roots in colonial Nigeria as well as in upper class England. The result is philosophical insight infused with skepticism that European thought holds all the answers.

Ich habe dieses Buch verschlungen und es hilft wirklich die Identitätsfrage auf ein neues Niveau zu heben. Er zeigt sehr schön auf wie man dieses Thema zum absurdum führt und diese vermeintlichen Gruppen gar nicht so krass zusammengehören wenn man tiefer bohrt. Echt klasse. Ich werde definitiv mehr von ihm lesen.

Good book, but maybe too academical and philosophical

The Lies that Bind is an important book about an obviously important topic. Not many topics are discussed as often as identity but Kwame Appiah is still able to bring a fresh perspective to the subject all the while writing with clarity and in a style which can be understood by academics and non-academics alike. I happen to disagree with many of the conclusions but I will try to focus this review more on what the author wanted to say and less on my particular reactions.Appiah first recognizes the enormous importance given to issues of identity in the modern world. These identities— whether racial, religious, national or cultural—tend to be viewed through an essentialist lens: they are real things that express themselves in individuals.Appiah rightly dismantles the essentialist account. Instead he offers his own theory that identities are merely labels which correspond with certain expected behaviors and certain expected treatment by others. One can try to change these norms but the labels are shared by a wider community and so ultimately one must persuade the wider public that a change in attitude is necessary. (A recent example of this is society’s change in attitude towards homosexuals.)To accomplish this dismantling Appiah advances example upon example of the fluidity of identity labels. While gender may be appear to be binary there are in fact many intersex people. While we tend to view religions as creeds there are many different beliefs within one community. And while people do have different skin colors there is no such thing as a race.The problem with this dismantling is that Appiah oversimplifies the construction of these identities. While genetic aberrations may occur that make some people not fully biologically male or female this doesn’t prove that gender is a mere label anymore than any other genetic malfunction causes humanity to lack a certain characteristic. And while, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, many churches began stressing their respective creeds, the example of many beliefs within one faith community does not prove that there are no core teachings any more than the fact that libertarians disagree on drug legalization proves that libertarians do not have an essential belief towards limited government. Finally, the idea that race as reported by the census bureau is largely a social construct does not mean that genetic differences don’t exist between different peoples around the world that can partially explain differences in culture.In short, while not an essentialist, I simply don’t agree that all identities are merely labels with no core meaning whatsoever. While sympathetic to Appiah’s defense of those marginalized by identity, I do not believe that all identities are lies which bind. Some identities are meaningful though Appiah’s deconstructions are worth considering before opting for a very rigid notion of identity.Wonderfully written with a sincere effort to provoke thought and better the world I do recommend this book to all even though I must disagree with some of its major conclusions.

Merci