Prepared by: Emalyn M.

Eliquio
“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.”
 Western Concepts of Self is
holistically defined in terms of the
1. Western Self following aspects:
as analytic 2. Western Self as
• The Western of thinking is Monotheistic
analytic deductive which • The belief in one supreme
emphasis on the casual being coexisting with the
link (part to whole universe condenses the
relationship) supernatural and human
• The whole is understood capabilities into bipolarity
when differentiated to of qualities of existence
parts. (e.g beautiful/ugly and
• One must categorize and kind/cruel)
make distinctions to • And categories of identity
pursue cause. and existence.
3. Western Self as 4. Western Self as
Individualistic Materialistic and
• Western individualism Rationalistic
exhibits the coexistence • The Western way of
of favorable and thinking is focused on
unfavorable conditions “material things” and
inherent in personal favors a rational
freedom. empirical approach over
magical approach and
superstitious
explanations of
immaterial things.
 Eastern Concept of Self:
• In the East, philosophy and religion are twisted
together.
• The major Eastern religions are HINDUISM,
BUDDHISM, CONFUCIANISM, AND TAOISM these
are also common representatives of Eastern
thought.
• The Eastern thought is described as pluralistic
(Garcia, 2013).
• These four systems of Eastern thought differ in
their approaches about the concept of self, they
 The Self in Four Great System of
Eastern Thought
1. HINDUISM
• The Hindu concept of self is expounded in
VEDENTA.
• VEDENTA - a major school of Indian thought
based on Upanishad, the classical Indian
philosophical treatises.
- characterizes human suffering as the result of
failure to realize the distinction between the True
self (permanent and unchanging) and the non-true
self (impermanent and changes continually).
BRAHMAN
is an absolute reality.
The goal of a person is to have a knowledge of the
reality.
Self realization is being unitedto all embracing
brahman. But the realization of true selfhood will
result in a complete dissolution of individual
identity (Ho, 1995).
ATMAN (soul or spirit)
The true knowledge of self is identical to brahman.
The Law of KARMA
is the most important doctrine of Hinduism.
“ALL ACTIONS ARE SUBJECT TO KARMA”
Individual actions will lead to either GOOD or BAD
outcomes in one's life.
“PEOPLE GET EXACTLY WHAT THEY DESERVE”
“If you do good things, you will be rewaded, if you
do bad, you will be punished.
The individual is the only one responsible for the
consequences of his or her actions (Garcia, 2008).
“Individuals cannot change the fact that they are
exactly whta they are supposed to be in life, in the
present lifetime, they can change what they will
become in the future lives”.
2. BUDDHISM
Siddharta Gautama known as the “Buddha” is a
founder of Buddhism. The root of Buddhism is
“BUDHA” meaning “AWAKE”.To be awake may imply
that opening the eyes would lead to understand more
about the self and the world.
According to the teachings of Buddhism, every
person as the seed of enlightenment, hence the
potential to be a Buddha. But the seed should be
 The Four Noble Truths are the Basic
Principles of Buddhism:
1. Life is suffering;
2. Suffering is caused by attachment
desire;
3. Suffering can be eliminated; and
4. Elimination of suffering is through the
practice of the Eightfold Path (right view,
right aspiration, right speech, right
action, right livelihood, right effort, right
3. CONFUCIANISM
the confucian doctrines are found in
the Analects (conversation of
Confucius).
“Do not do to others what you
would not want others to do to you”
Golden Rule or the principle of
reciprocity.
Five Cardinal Relationships:
Between ruler and master
Between father and son
Between husband and wife
Between brothers
Between friends
-the self is known as a relational self.
-another important features in Confucian
thought is the individual's greatest mission of
attaining self-realization wherein self-motivation
is instrumental.
4. TAOISM
Toaists reject the Confucian idea of reltional self.
To them, the self is an extension of the cosmos,
not of social relationships.
The self is described as one of the limitless forms
of the Tao (Ho, 1995).
The Tao is commonly regarded as nature that is
the foundation of all that exists (Garcia, 2008).
Taoists believe that simplicity, spontaneity, and
harmony with nature should govern one's life.
Individuals must seek to understand and act in
accordance with the natural order. There is
 Dichotomy of Eastern and Western
Conceptions of Self
EASTERN
Collectivist
Many movements of Eastern thoughts raise
questions about the ultimate meaning of life and
have developed theories of self insofar as they
have investigated what it means to be a human
being.
In Eastern thought, the emphasis is relational
rather than individualistic.
The self is concerned not isolation but in relation
 Eastern thought aim at transformation in
conciousness, feelins, emotions, and one's relation to
other peopleand the world. The theories of Eastern
philosophers demonstrate a sociocentric view
presupposing that the self exists as an entity within
the concrete situation or role occupied by the person
(Robbins, 2012).
WESTERN
 Individualist
 Western thoughts tend to view the self as
autonomous, unitary, and stable (Van Meijil, 2008).
 Western thoughts about the self have been examined
by renowned theorists like Freud, Erickson, Bandura,
They have conducted scientific investigations in an
effort to understand the self and have developed
theories and concepts to account for the
similarities and differences among them.
they emphasize the importance of scientific
methods to provide satisfactory answers to
understand the self.
Western concept of life is linear as it is concerned
wih absolute beginnings or endings in tme or
space.
WESTERN AND EASTERN
Both East and West appreciate each other's
Another distinction between Eastern and Western
thoughts is about nature and self.
According to Sarza (2013), one unique feature of
Eastern philosophy is it great reverence for
nature. It is believed that nature promotes
introspection into one's inner life and that wisdom
and enlightenment can be attained by observing
nature.
Peacock (1986) mentions that modern Western
culture tends to set the individual against nature,
that is to struggle against nature which is a
dangerous enemy. This viewpoint can be traced
from Christian theologies that consider nature as