Well at least traditionally it was. Eastern & western thinkers alike believe that human beings are essentially the same all over the world, only the details & customs differ. Wang and Plato both agree that what prevents a person from acting on what they know is selfish desires which confuse people and make them choose to act badly even when they know they should not. close relatives, Elders are considered as a sacred and Wonhyo would agree with that since he believed that everything was One and all of the experiences a person has in life are just a part of the One Experience of being a human being. Comparison of Western and Eastern Concepts of Self Western Eastern Duality- you are distinct from other persons Other persons are part of your self Talk about their personal attributes Talk about their social roles Highlights personal achievements Keeps a low profile and avoid boastfulness Individualistic- focus on the person Collectivistic . The holistic, collectivist views of Eastern society explain why Easterners are not as direct when communicating, leaving more open space to interpretation. By and large, cultures in the West tend to be more individualistic whereas people from the East are more collectivist. 10. Richard C. Page, Richard C. Page. Whereas in the West the self is understood primarily as an autonomous ego whose existence is distinct from that of others, in the East, it is often argued there is no meaning of self that is independent of our relations to others. Answer (1 of 13): This question is overarching in its purview; it's syncretic and it might elicit abstractions at inductive level of thought. hope of enjoying life through society. If we can examine and think about things from every angle, thought process, and point of view, the better off we will be in the world. most respectable person, Western Education focuses on Suppose you are asked to name the two related items in a list of words such as train, bus, track. In 2010, an influential article in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences reported that the vast majority of psychological subjects had been western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic, or Weird for short. Media use, in particular, tended to be the biggest predictor of the shift. Changing sometimes month to month. Framework. Is there also a difference between regions or ethnolinguistic groups in the This refers to the popular understanding that eastern philosophy specificallyChinese philosophy addresses the whole of human existence while western philosophy beginning with the Greeks only focuses on certain aspects of the human condition. The similarities between eastern and western philosophy are greater than any differences cited by modern-day writers and lecturers on the topic. He found that within one generation, the children of immigrants had started to adopt some elements of the more individualistic outlook, and less holistic cognitive styles. Plato uses this slave boy as an example of innate knowledge to show that people already know innately what they think of as being taught and that this goes for knowledge of goodness as well as anything else. The participants were also asked to take a social reasoning test, which asked them to discuss a baseball player using performance-enhancing drugs. Both East and West believe that man is born with innate knowledge that just needs to be encouraged to pursue. The popular writer Sankara Saranam, author of the bookGod WithoutReligion, is one example of this when he claims that eastern philosophy is concerned with general knowledge while western philosophy aims at specific knowledge. Modern-day scholarship often makes a serious, and arbitrary, distinction between the two which is unnecessary and erects an artificial boundary between the two traditions. influential article in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, our social orientation may have a genetic element, recently profiled the thinking styles of British Bangladeshi families in East London, score higher on measures of individualism, Shinobu Kitayama at the University of Michigan has found, : the more likely you are to get infection, the more collectivist you are. The differences between the concepts of Wang and Plato are only cosmetic and linguistic. Please support World History Encyclopedia. Another interrelated difference between Eastern and Western education is how learning itself is seen as a mean to an end. While visiting Beijing in the north, he found that strangers would be much more forthcoming If I was eating alone people would come up and talk to me whereas those in the southern city of Guangzhou tended to be more reticent and fearful of offending. Cite your sources. accepting of what is. Specifically, first and second year Latino student's self-perceptions of campus assimilation and involvement in campus activities were studied. And, in fact, there was a famous debate regarding these two points of view that occurred in the second century bce , between King Menander, a Greek who ruled northwestern India, and a Buddhist monk Nagasena. Doctoral student in the counseling psychology program. Our world is becoming a melting pot of cultures as people continue to blend in and integrate. Write top five (5) differences between Western and Eastern society, culture, and Additionally, a subgroup of participants (n = 34) engaged in a case-based reasoning . Nisbett points out that Western philosophers emphasised freedom and independence, whereas Eastern traditions like Taoism tended to focus on concepts of unity. Home | east vs west cultural differences | East vs West culture Top 20 differences and similarities. Self-liberation from the false "Me" and finding the true "Me". Write an essay on the following questions. License. Ethics is a branch of philosophy, also known as moral philosophy. The recognition of hunger is an innate human quality which does not need to be taught, and Wang says the same is true of morality. Further illustration of the above philosophies by Plato and Wang points out the similarity. There is no eastern or western philosophy; there is only philosophy. As all cultures both east and west cultures its clear that everyone is striving for a better future. For example, topics like sex or birth of a child are openly discussed in Western culture, whereas in the East, these topics are still taboo. Nisbett points out that Western philosophers emphasised freedom and independence, whereas Eastern traditions like Taoism tended to focus on concepts of unity. Concerning east vs west cultural differences, it seems that it is in the west the individual is very happy and able to voice their personal feelings and that those feelings are most important when making decisions. Both philosophers argue that there exists innate knowledge for all human beings. But in Eastern culture you are given status as defined by your relationships to those with status. By the new millennium, it numbered nearly six million. In both east vs west one of the similarities are the health systems. in Western and own history, religion, political system, beliefs and culture. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. In line with this theory, recent psychological studies have shown that the states at the edge of the frontier (such as Montana) tend to score higher on measures of individualism. 4. the self has relation to others, society and the world. One could compare the fundamental ideas of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE) with those of theGreekphilosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) and find they are presenting the same basic concepts. There are no sharp divides between two culture's different ways of thinking, and people in immigrant communities may incorporate both mindsets (Credit: Getty images), Although some people have claimed that our social orientation may have a genetic element, the evidence to date suggests that it is learned from others. In Western culture, the concept of the self is a central motivational universe that is more or less integrated. The Western Zodiac is based on twelve signs relating to months of the year whilst the Eastern tradition has twelve animals based on the year of birth. One could compare the fundamental ideas of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius (l. 551-479 BCE) with those of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (l. 384-322 BCE) and find they are presenting the same basic concepts. An example could be that individuals are free to make their own decisions on who to marry and where to marry, such as getting married in a church. Plato uses this slave boy as an example of innate knowledge to show that people already know innately what they think of as being taught and that this goes for knowledge of goodness as well as anything else. In modern times, the younger Gen Z are spending more and saving less. Fashion and brands do not promote traditions but only innovation and modern consumer goods. In 2008, Corey Fincher (now at the University of Warwick) and colleagues analysed global epidemiological data to show a regions score of individualism and collectivism appear to correlate with disease prevalence: the more likely you are to get infection, the more collectivist you are, and the less individualistic. The question is what the solution should be.. In the east holidays are seen as a gift from the government or the company. Previous work has assessed the impacts of tropical deforestation on . The most important characteristic of the Eastern world view - one could almost say the essence of it - is the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestations of a basic oneness. The empiricist argument that there is a lack of evidence for innate knowledge cannot be supported by empirical facts; a person must be aware that they should pursue something before they can pursue it. I agree with the differentiation between West and East because every place has its However, in Eastern philosophy, the self is often treated as an illusion. Western children are also much more comfortable with communicating their own feeling and thoughts about what they should be doing and what they will do. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. URL: dhvsu.edu, believe on what we believe in. It is now seven years since Henrich published his paper outlining the Weird bias, and the response has been positive. Cite your sources. The ideas presented by Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, and those by Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, are similar and discuss same basic concepts. Learn faster and smarter from top experts, Download to take your learnings offline and on the go. American agriculturists such as William S Clark helped tame Hokkaido. The similarities between eastern and western philosophy are greater than any differences cited by modern-day writers and lecturers on the topic. Eastern thoughts: 1. raise questions about the ultimate meaning of life. We contribute a share of our revenue to remove carbon from the atmosphere and we offset our team's carbon footprint. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/855/similarities-between-eastern--western-philosophy/. The individualism and emphasis on personal agency and identity of western society has caused westerners to be more direct when communicating, making it a point to avoid any misunderstanding. Yet the small number of available studies which had examined people from other cultures would suggest that this is far from the case. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the self-perceptions of Latino students at an institution of higher education in Eastern Pennsylvania. And that the West struggles to innovate and compete. Various scholars and institutions of higher learning have maintained arbitrary divisions in the eastern and western philosophy. World History Encyclopedia. Richard C. Page: is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia, Athens. Whether good or bad. How amazing it is that this rich and beautiful country, the property of one of the oldest and most densely populated nations of the world should have remained so long unoccupied and almost as unknown as the African deserts, he added. In Plato's view, a person already knows what is good because that person will respond innately to the quality of goodness in the writing and will also respond to the concept of goodness in one's life. If the voluntary settlement theory is correct, those pioneers should have cultivated a more independent outlook in Hokkaido compared to the rest of the country. 2011 Western Saharan protests and United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories have 4 things in common (in Unionpedia): Morocco, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Self-determination, Western Sahara. He is particularly pleased that researchers like Talhelm are beginning to set up big projects to try to understand the kaleidoscope of different ways of thinking. Concepts of the Self: Western and Eastern Perspectives. Specifically, the study asks whether Middle Eastern students' predictions regarding future performance rectify prior self-serving inflated assessment, thereby . Answer (1 of 12): That's such a broad topic books could (and have been) written on it, so I'll be brief, and let you research beyond the clues I provide. David Robson is BBC Futures feature writer. Eastern people make sacrifices for calmness of society but it is a tough task to manage life in harsh circumstances of eastern world. When questioned about their attitudes and behaviours, people in more individualistic, Western societies tend to value personal success over group achievement, which in turn is also associated with the need for greater self-esteem and the pursuit of personal happiness. For some women, these precautions are taken to avoid negative encounters the komieth, and have very little, if anything,, The author identifies the differences between East and West being our inherent basic ideologies. Whereas, if we talk about good culture, beliefs, customs, the eastern part of the world overpowers the western one. This can be an odd conversation for westerners who may inquiry why someone is asking such personal questions. minded and critical, A person is more free and flexible to Western ideas on how the self is constructed and how it relates to perception and experience are examined, and Western and Eastern concepts . Staff will take an active role in team activities in order to gain praise and social reward. Eastern perspectives about self are inherently non-dualistic. Western culture. Following the middle path is the way to enlightenment (Buddhism). While the Christians think that following Jesus is only to achieve salvation and that, The question that is being asked here is what is the West? Thank you for your help! All that would change in the mid-19th Century. These east vs west differences change the ways in which people act, behave, and think. It is possible to say that human life is religiously determined and that the key to successful ideas lies in the understanding of universal dogmas and values. The similarities between the two are greater than any differences as cited by scholars in the modern times. It does this in several ways and some of which are to wanting to look unproductive and wanting to take an active role in leading the group to be more productive. In fact, human beings are essentially the same the world over, only the details and customs differ, and the philosophies of eastern and western thinkers make this quite clear. In Eastern culture, the "self" is the dynamic center of awareness, emotion, and judgment. Eastern culture focuses more on purification of soul and the life here after. Growing rice requires far greater cooperation: it is labour-intensive and requires complex irrigation systems spanning many different farms. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. By whitelisting SlideShare on your ad-blocker, you are supporting our community of content creators. The first illustration is the focus on Confucius and Aristotle, the eastern and western philosophers respectively. What one person does or experiences is completely independent of other people and the world at large. People living in individualistic societies may also put more emphasis on personal choice and freedom. It is a unique whole that is defined against a social background. As set they differ in their features but mostly because they are oriented in different directions. Wang's and Plato's philosophies have been attacked by empiricists for a lack of evidence, but what these two philosophers are contending makes sense on a very basic level: one must know what is good in order to pursue what is good, and this knowledge of the good must be innate in order for people to have the desire to pursue it in the first place. But this thirst for self-validation also manifests in overconfidence, with many experiments showing that Weird participants are likely to overestimate their abilities. Western and Eastern Concept/Perspective is a lot different from each other. These are arbitrary distinctions which totally miss the underlying, and essentially identical, aims of eastern and western philosophy. Those who compare, and seek to find contrasts rather than similarities between, Eastern vs. Western characteristics tend to identify such things as:-. We agree on the illness. the other side, The West is considered by many to be a cultural region with an identity separate from that of the rest of Canada. In many western countries populations may be around 50 million up to 300 million whereas in the east populations may be around 100 million up to billions. Culture pervades every aspect of life. Click here to review the details. Although there are many challenges in the West, its clear that there is no consensus on consumer unification over history, traditions, and western culture. Do not sell or share my personal information, 1. Whereas in the West culturally people are confused about western history. This article is the first part ofThe Human Planet, a new series in which BBC Future uses cutting-edge science to explore our extraordinary diversity. It has been difficult to prove that the apparent correlations in the real world are not caused by some other factor, such as the relative wealth of the country, but lab experiments offer some support for the idea when psychologists prime people to feel afraid of disease, they do seem to adopt more collectivist ways of thinking, such as greater conformity to group behaviours. We've updated our privacy policy. Meaning if you personally add value, you are a more important member of the community and given a higher status. We will write a custom Essay on Western and Eastern Conceptions of Self and Socialization specifically for you. These east vs west differences change the ways in which people act, behave, and think. The west can be defined as many different things, but According to Levack, B., Muir, E., & Veldman, M. (2011) the west is a place (p. 2). 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