The Western and

Eastern Thought and

Anthropology
Group 1
 Introduction
Cultures and cultural practices have a great effects of peoples
ways of life and changes. Different culture in every places
are having different perception about self. One of the most
common culture differences of people are the Western and
Eastern culture. Eastern represent in the Asia and the
Western represents Europe and Northern America
Western Philosophy
• Refers to philosophical thinking of Western culture,
beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-
Socratics
• It is encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the
Western world.
• Deals with individualism.
Socrates

• Founding father of Western philosophy.

• He examined all aspects of life in ancient Athens- to his
own detriment
• He believed that philosophy should achieve actual
practical results for well-being of society.
 3 Primary components of Western
Thought
• Metaphysics- it is the branch of philosophy that studies the
fundamental nature of reality, the first and change, space,
space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility.
• Epistemology- it is a theory of knowledge. It is derived from
the Greek episteme (knowledge) and logos (reason). It is also
the philosophical study of nature, origin, and limits of human
knowledge.
• Ethics- it is the business of moral philosophy by which human
try to determine what behaviors are right and wrong; good
or bad; noble and ignoble.
 Western Thinkers
• Plato

- Philosopher and writer, he is thought by many people to be the father

of Western philosophy
• Aristotle
-one of the largest influences on western
culture in the ancient world.
- He was a Greek Philosopher.
 Rene Descartes
• A French Philosopher
• The father of modern Immanuel Kant
Western Philosophy • He is the most influential
• Most commonly known philosopher in history of
for his philosophical Western Philosophy.
statement “I think, • He contributes to
therefore I am”. metaphysics, epistemology,
ethics, and aesthetics and it
has profound impact on
almost every philosophical
movement that followed
him.
 Religion that most influential in Western
• It characterized by monotheistic religions especially Christianity.
• Monotheistic-it the belief that there is only one deity, in all-supreme
being that is universally referred to as God.
Judaism- it is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion.
Christianity- is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion and the world’s
largest religion that based on the life and teaching of Jesus of
Nazareth.
Islam- is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered primarily
around the Quran, areligious text considered by Muslim.
3 Most influential Western Philosopher

• Socrates- the most important exponent of

Western Philosophy with his ideas.
• Plato- (student of Socrates) he is also most well
known people in Western history.
• Aristotle- (student of Plato) the most influential
thinkers and teacher in human history.
 Eastern Philosophy
- Focuses on the ultimate meaning of human life
Confucianism-focused on having a harmonious social life.
- Self cultivation- ultimate purpose of life.
-Cultivated self- subdued for the good of many.
“Do not do others what you could not want others to do to
you”(Golden rule)
 Taoism –Lao Tzu
- the self is an extension of the cosmos, not of social relationship.
- the perfect man has no self and the selfless person leads to a
balanced life, in harmony with both nature and society.
- Target is to have balance the yen and yang.
 3 Kinds of Soul
1. Vegetative- the physical body that can grow.
2. Sentient- sensual desire that makes man know and understand.
3. Rational- what make us human intellect that makes man know and
understand.
 Main Religion in Eastern
Hinduism- they believe in the doctrine of samsara (the continuous
cycle of life, death and reincarnation) and karma (the universal law of
cause and effect).
• One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is “atman” or the belief in soul.
The philosophy holds that living creature have a soul, and there all
part od supreme soul.
 Hindus believe that there are 4 goals in
human life
1. kama- the pursuit of pleasure
2. Artha- the pursuit of material success
3. Dharma- leading just and good life
4. Moksha- enlightenment
 Anthropology
• Anthropology
• - promotes a holistic study of humans.
• -Derived from two Greek words
• -Antropos (Human)
• -Logos (Study)
• Anthropology seeks to answer this primary question:
• What does it mean to be Human?
• Anthropology studies human as both
• -Biological and Social Creatures
• Anthropology study also
-Ethnic Groupings and Geological Locations.
It can be defined as
“the study of people—their origins their developments,
and cotemporary variations wherever and whenever
they have been found on the face of the earth” (Ember,
Ember, and Peregrine, 2010).
5 Sub disciple of Anthropology
1.Archeology
2.Cultural Anthropology
3.Linguistic Anthropology
4.Physical Anthropology
5.Applied Anthropology
 Archeology
Examines the remains of
ancient and historical human
populations to promote an
understanding of how
humans adapted to their
environment and developed.
 Cultural Anthropology

Promote to study of a society’s

culture through their belief
systems, practices, and
possessions
 Linguistic Anthropology

• Examines the language of a

group of people and its
relation to their culture
 Physical Anthropology
• Looks into the Biological
Development of Humans and
their contemporary variation
 Applied Anthropology

Attempts to solve contemporary

problems through the
application of theories and
approaches of the discipline.
•During the 19th century,
anthropologists, were often
from Western Societies.
•One of the Classic studies in
Anthropology, Tristes Tropiques,
was made by Claude Levi-
Strauss, A French Anthropologist.
This work Presented the lives of
a non modern society in Brazil.
Claude Levi-Strauss
 Philippe Bourgois
A professor of anthropology and director for Social
Medicine and Humanities in the Department of Psychiatry
at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Both Anthropologists Levi-Strauss
and Bourgois stay in the field for
more than TWO YEARS and live in
the communities that they were
documenting.