THE WESTERN AND EASTERN CONCEPTS OF
Western Self as Individualistic
SELF
“One of the most effective ways to learn about
oneself is by taking seriously the cultures of
others. It forces you to pay attention to those
details of life which differentiate them from you.”
- Edward T. Hall
WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF
 Geertz (van Meijl, 2008) defines the Western
concept of Self as “a bounded, unique, more
or less integrated motivational and cognitive
universe, a dynamic center of awareness,
emotion, judgment, and action organized
into a distinctive whole and set contrastively
both against other such wholes and against
its social and natural background.
WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF IS HOLISTICALLY
DEFINED IN TERMS OF THE FOLLOWING
ASPECTS:
1. Western Self as Analytic
 The western of thinking is analytic-deductive
with emphasis on the casual link (part-to-
whole relationships)
 The whole is understood when
differentiated into parts.
 One must categorize and make distinctions
to pursue cause.
2. Western Self as Monotheistic
 The belief in one Supreme Being coexisting
with the universe condenses the
supernatural and human capabilities into
bipolarity of qualities of existence (.eg.
Beautiful/ugly: kind/cruel)
 And categories of identity and existence.
3.
 Western individualism exhibits the
coexistence of favorable and unfavorable
conditions inherent in personal freedom
4. Western Self as Materialistic and
Rationalistic
 The Western way of thinking is focused on
material “things” and favors a rational-
empirical approach over magical approach
and superstitious explanations of immaterial
“things”.
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF
1. Pre-Christian time until 1850
 There were philosophical and theological
attempts to characterize the self through the
concepts of soul and mind with emphasis on
conscious experience of the individual,
distinction between physical and mental
nature of man (mind-body dualism), and
thee causality of human behavior.
2. 1850 -1940
 The establishment of experiment psychology
in mid-nineteenth century led to a change in
emphasis from abstract concepts of soul and
mind to observable and measurable aspect
of human faculties.
 The concept of self-re-emerged within the
social interactionist framework in the early
1900s
3. 1940-present
 There is a multi-directional and continuous
development of concept of self:
a. Sociological and psychological theories of
self encompass all three levels of self,
namely inner self, interpersonal self and
social self.
 b. Existentialist and phenomenologist,
both in philosophy and psychology,
engaged in holistic approach integrating
the inner, interpersonal, and social
aspects of self.
c. At present, there is convergence in some
conceptualizations of the self among
psychologists, anthropologist,
sociologists, philosophers, and linguist
whose studies focus on the actual,
multivariate and situational contest of
the self-employing new frameworks and
methodologies.
EASTERN CONCEPT OF SELF
 Philosophy and religion are twisted together,
thus the major Eastern religion such as
Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and
Taoism are also the common representatives
of Eastern thought.
 Eastern thought is described as pluralistic
(Garcia ,2013)
THE SELF IN FOUR GREAT SYSTEMS OF EASTERN
THOUGHT
What is the importance of our culture?
 Culture sets the cultural standards of our
community.
NORMS – dictates our behavior in the society.
 Culture is made up of all the ideas, beliefs,
behaviors, and products common to defining
a group’s way of life (Stolley, 2005).
 All human beings have these diverse cultures
and it contributes on how we were raised in
the society and affects the way we see
things.
Anthropology
 Is the study of human race, it’s culture and
society, and its physical development?
 Deals on the origin of humanity and the
development of its society and culture.
Sociology
 The scientific study of human life, social
groups, while societies and the human world
whose subject matter is our own behaviour
as social beings in relationship with many
other people (Giddens, A. & Sutton,
P.W.,2016).
CULTURE
 Anthropology
- Understanding man in its cultural context.
 Sociology
- Digs into understanding the self in reference to
the behaviour of the society.
MATERIAL CULTURE
 Consist of human technology – all the things
that people make and use
 It changes from time to time. The fluidity of
the culture can be ascribed to mans’ distinct
ability to create, transform, and re-create
culture itself.
 The evolution of the material culture can be
attributed to the technological advances
that humanity was able to make.
NON – MATERIAL CULTURE
 inclusive of the intangible human creations
that include, beliefs, values, norms, and
symbols.
 non- material culture helps in shaping our
perspective of the society, of ourselves and
even of the material world.
 non-material culture could also manifest in
the material culture of people.
 material culture changes overtime, non-
material culture may or may not change
depending on outside factors in the society.