Chapter 4: The Western and Eastern thoughts about the self
Western Thought
 “Self”
 Focused on individualism
 Viewed as autonomous relative
to others and the environment,
stressing separateness from the
social world.
 In Western beliefs, people tend
to think that we are separate and
unique from each other.
Eastern Thought
 “Self”
 Dominated by the “we” idea;
self is a part of a larger network
of people who all help each
other.
Eastern Religious view of the “self”
 Hinduism
 It is a major religion common
in the south Asian countries
like India and Sri Lanka.
 Brahman: The sacred, the god
spirit or the universe.
 Atman: The human soul or the
self.
 Hinduism teaches that the
Atman is basically the fragment
of Brahman, or the universe.
 The Hindu belief states that
each time a person dies and is
reborn, it comes closer to
Brahman.
 When the person completes the
cycle of reincarnation, they
stop being reborn and are fully
reunited with Brahman.
 Hindus think in terms of
centuries and lifetimes.
 The “self” in Hinduism is just a
part of a larger whole (the
Brahman), which embodies
everything. The Atman of the
self is tied to everything.
 Buddhism
 Buddhism is an Eastern religion
where the self is often thought
of as an illusion.
 There are two concepts in
Buddhist branches:
 (1) Interconnectedness: Means
that everything is connected. It
eliminates the idea that there is
us and there is others.
 (2) Lack of Self: To Buddhists,
humans are just a stream of
consciousness and not a
separate entity.
 We are nothing but a thought,
interconnected with everything
else.
 Since the self is an illusion, we
should forget about the self
which ultimately cause
suffering, to attain nirvana.
 Nirvana: a place of perfect
peace and happiness akin to
heaven.
 Confucianism
 It does not teach the worship of
any particular deity.
 It is focused more on human
behavior, causing many scholars
to consider it more of an ethical
system or a code of conduct
rather than a religion.
 A human being is seen as a
social being, whose personality
is not inherently existing, but is
being formed through
upbringing and environment.
 In essence, the self will develop
through the practice of the
virtues of compassion,
righteousness, propriety and
wisdom to bring harmony to
family, community and empire.
 Self-cultivation: is our supreme
goal-any person is a
 Chapter 4: The Western and Eastern thoughts about the self

 “gentleman” if his or her

WESTERN EASTERN
conduct is noble and unselfish.
 This is the characteristic of
CHUN-TZU: a man of virtue or Individualistic Collectivistic
noble character culture since their culture since
focus is on the the group and
 Taoism person and social relations
 It is an ancient Chinese individual needs are given
philosophy that stresses the and wants. importance.
importance of living simply and
honestly and in harmony with Values Values
nature. competition and cooperation
 It is often referred to as the is straightforward and tends to go
Way. when around the
 Three of most important tenets communicating bush when
of Taoism are: with others. exploring
1. The First Principle: things to
Sometimes translated to as others.
oneness: everything in
nature is all part of the same Emphasizes Emphasizes on
whole. equality even if hierarchy as
2. The Yin-Yang classification the individual is the culture
3. The Wu Wei concept seen to rise above wants to keep
 Unlike Confucianism, Taoism everything else. things in
does not regard the self as an harmony and
extension of social in order
relationships, but of the cosmos.

Additional Information:
 It is important to note that the self is not
the entire focus of these Eastern beliefs.
Each philosophy has its own perspective
of the self that takes it within a bigger
context.
 For Confucianism and Taoism: to
become a better person means to create
a self that would benefit the community
and that would be in harmony with
nature.
 For Hinduism and Buddhism: the self is
interconnected with everything.