The French-language weekly news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur has named Princeton professors Kwame Anthony Appiah and Philip Pettit two of the 25 greatest thinkers in the world today.
In its Dec. 29, 2004, issue, which celebrates its 40th anniversary, the
magazine lauds Appiah as an "ambassador of universalism," and hails
Pettit as a "holistic individualist." The full list includes other
philosophers, social theorists and critics from across the globe.
Appiah, the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values,
specializes in moral and political philosophy, African and
African-American studies, and issues of personal and political
identity, multiculturalism and nationalism. A native of Ghana, Appiah
joined the Princeton faculty in 2002.
Appiah is the author of numerous award-winning books, including "The
Ethics of Identity," which was published in January by Princeton
University Press; "Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race"
(with Amy Gutmann); and "In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy
of Culture." He also is co-editor, with Henry Louis Gates Jr., of
"Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American
Experience," a revised version of which is due to be published by
Oxford University Press in March.
Pettit, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics
and the University Center for Human Values, has wide-ranging
intellectual interests that include the philosophy of cognitive and
social science as well as moral and political theory. A native of
Ireland, Pettit joined the Princeton faculty in 2002.
Pettit's recent books include "Mind, Morality and Explanation" (with
Frank Jackson and Michael Smith); "The Economy of Esteem: An Essay on
Civil and Political Society" (with Geoffrey Brennan); "Rules, Reasons
and Norms: Selected Essays"; and "A Theory of Freedom: From the
Psychology to the Politics of Agency."
