The Self in

Western and
Eastern Thought
CRISELDA CARINO
BSChE2
 Individualistic Vs. Collective
Self
• Individualism
– The life satisfaction depends upon personal
feelings and experience.
– Individualist cultures, such as the United
States and Western Europe, emphasizes
personal achievement resulting in a strong
sense of competition.
– An individualist is motivated by personal
rewards and benefits. They set personal
goals and objectives based on self and
would rather work with autonomy and not
part on a team.
 Individualistic Vs. Collective
Self
• Collectivism
– Collectivism cultures, such as China,
Korea, and Japan, emphasizes family
and work groups goals above individual
needs or desires.
– The collectivist is motivated by a group
goals. They easily their individual
benefits or praise to recognize and
honor the team success.
 The Self in Western
Thoughts
• The term “self” refers to an individual
human being, along with their body,
mind and soul.
• Western Perspective about the self
are inherently dualistic.
 Plato
• Was one of the
philosophers to state
that soul is eternal, so
it is the soul of the man
that makes him an
enduring self, because
even after death, the
soul continues to exist.
 Rene Descartes
• Descartes, basically
believed that if he
could not think, then
he could not exist,
and thus thinking in
and of itself was
what constituted a
self.
 John Locke
• Self is a person’s
memory.
• In other words, it is our
memory that allows us
to identify ourselves,
and it is the process of
identifying ourselves
that allows us to
formulate the idea of
“self”.
 The Self in Eastern
Thoughts
• Eastern Perspective about the self
are inherently non-dualistic.
• Religious traditions was the
mainstream, accepting the concept of
a superior being was necessity for
being religious.
 Hinduism
• It is the diverse array of belief
system, practices and scriptures.
• Hinduism rest of spiritual bedrock
of the Vedas(Veda Dharma), and
the teachings of many Hindu
Gurus through the ages.
• Common to all Hindus is beliefs
in reincarnation, karma, and
moska(liberation) of every soul
through a variety of moral, action-
based, and meditative yogas.
 Confucianism
• Is developed around the teachings of
Confucius and is based on a set of Chinese
classic texts.
• It could be understood as a social ethic and
humanism focusing on human beings and
our relationship.
• It emphasizes formal rituals in every aspect
of life from religious ceremony to strict
politeness and to respect the elders
specifically to one’s parent.
 Taoism
• Traditional foil of Confucianism.
• Taoism’s central books are the “Tao
Te Ching”, traditionally attributed to
Lao Zi and the Zhuang Zi.
• The core concepts of Taoism
emphasizes Nature, individual
freedom, and refusal of social
bounds.
 Buddhism
• Is a system of beliefs based on the
teachings of Gautama Buddha, a
Lumbini(Nepal) Prince and Philosopher.
• Buddhism is a non-theistic religion, it is not
especially concerned with the existence or
non-existence of God or Gods.
• Most Buddhist sects believe in karma, a
cause and effect relationship between all
that has been done and all that will be
done.