THE SELF IN THE

WESTERN AND
EASTERN THOUGHT
MAICA PETILOS
PAULO DOMINO
FRANCIOUS IMPANZO
INTRODUCTION

One of the most common distinctions between cultures and

people is the western and eastern/oriental thought wherein
eastern represents Asia and western represents Europe,
Australasia, and America.
WESTERN

Liberated
• not following traditional ways of behaving or old ideas.
• Being liberated is capable of showing freedom from social
conventions or tradition ideas.
Independency
• The state of being free from the control or power of
another.
 EASTERN
• Elders and males automatically gain the highest position in the house.
• Eastern beliefs that the elders have the obligations to decide what is the
best for their children, children must obey whatever that decision maybe.
Interdependency
• A reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or
individuals or groups).
• Tend to see themselves as connected to each others and embedded in a
broader social context, as such they tend to emphasize interdependence,
family relationship, and social comformity.
 West and East

INDIVIDUALISTIC VS. COLLABORATIVE

• I am part of my family.
• I am special.
• I am part of my
• I am unique. community.
• I am me. • I am part of my country.
• I am an individual. • The goodness of the
• I am who I am. whole is more important
• I am a rational agent. than the individual.
• I am responsible for my • My actions directly impact
own action. my family and my
community.
 West and East
Independence
• Develop early independence
• Express yourself
• Responsible for self
• Live on one’s own
• One’s own goals take priority
• Motivated by own
• preferences, needs ,
• rights
• Tasks more important than
relationships
• Cognitive skills independent of
social skills
Interdependence
• Learn to depend on others
• Read nonverbal cues
• Listen to authority
• Be responsible for others
• Personal goals secondary to
goals of the group
• Motivated by the norms of, and
duties imposed by, the group
• Relationships more important
than tasks
• Social and cognitive skills
integrated
Westby (2009)
 EAST SAYS

• All things will be reborn/reincarnated

WEST SAYS

• All things will evolve

 EAST SAYS

• Improvement is an ongoing circular cycle

WEST SAYS

• Improvement stops once you reach a goal

 EAST SAYS
• Existence moves from one world to the next
eternal

WEST SAYS
• Existence is linear it will one day come to an
end
 EAST SAYS
• Search inside yourself for truth: meditation
and ethics

WEST SAYS
• Search outside yourself for truth: data and
analysis
THE SELF IN
WESTERN
THOUGHT
• The 17th century, Descartes emphasized the self through his
dictum “I think, therefore, I am”. Descartes view exists regardless
of his environment. In other words, for him the cognitive basis of
the person’s thoughts is proof for the existence of the self.
• On the other hand, Kant believed that the self is capable of
actions that entities it to have rights as an autonomous agent.
• The West introduced the ecological self which sees the self as a
process that is undergoing development. Human biological and
environmental characteristics like race, gender, status, education,
and culture are factors that influence self-development.
THE SELF IN
EASTERN
THOUGHT
CONFUCIANISM

Main Concepts of Confucianism

• Jen (courtesy)
• Yi (rationality or behavior)
• Li (ritual and hospitality)
• Xiao (respect for the parent)
 TAOISM
• Taoism is living in the way of Tao or the universe. However, Taoism rejects having
one definition of what the Tao is, and one can only state clues of what it is as they
adapt a free-flowing, relative, unitary, as well as paradoxical view of almost
everything.
• Taoism rejects the hierarchy and strictness brought by Confucianism and would
prefer a simple. Thus, its teachings aim to describe how to attain that life.
• The Self is not just an extension of the family or the community, it is part of the
universe, one of the forms and manifestations of the Tao.
• The ideal self is selflessness but this is not forgetting about he self, it is living a
balanced-life with society and nature, being open and accepting to change,
forgetting about prejudices and egocentric ideas and thinking about equality as
well as complementarity among human as well as other being.
 BUDDHISM

• The self is seen as an illusion, born out of ignorance, of trying

to hold and control things, or human-centered needs, thus
the self is also the source of all these suffering.
• It is therefore our quest to forget about the self, forget the
cravings of the self, break the attachments you have with the
world, and to renounce the self which is the cause of all
suffering and in doing so attain the state of Nirvana.
BUDDHISM

• There is NO SELF
• This idea is called anatta=no self
• We have no fixed self, no fixed unchanging self
THANK YOU