self in western

• Lao Tzu: 'Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.'
• I am


  Responses would include personality traits, job title, relationships with others
• Psychologists have found that a person's cultural background can affect how a person sees himself or herself
• People are shaped by their culture, and their culture is also shaped by them
• Richard Shweder: 'Cultural traditions and social practices regulate, express, and transform the human psyche, resulting less in psychic unity for humankind than in ethnic divergences in mind, self, and emotion'
• An individual thinks, feels, and behaves similarly as that of the members of his or her community
• Each community has its own standards, expectations, and rules that shape its members
• These differences are the reason people are markedly divergent
• Western concept of self

  Humans are the bearers of irreplaceable values, the individual was the focus of Renaissance thought, the self is an observer separate and distinct from external objects
• Categories on how the term "self" is used in contemporary western discussion

  • Analytical
  • Monotheistic
  • Individualistic
  • Materialistic/rationalistic
• Eastern concept of self

  The true nature of humans is described as "Brahman" which is the divine universal consciousness encompassing the universe, the "self" is a dynamic process that is interdependent and ever changing, the "self" is not an entity, a substance, or essence
• Four beginnings in Confucian philosophy

  • Heart of compassion that leads to Jen
  • Heart of righteousness that leads to Yi
  • Heart of propriety that leads to Li
  • Heart of wisdom that leads to Chih
• Confucian concept of self

  Personality is an achieved state of moral excellence rather than a given human condition, the self is deeply embedded within the family and society
• Taoist concept of self

  The "self" is but one of the countless manifestations of the Tao, the ideal is selflessness
• Islamic concept of self

  The "self" is something which has to be nurtured and self-regulated, it is used both in the individualistic and collective sense
• Differences between Eastern and Western philosophy, cultural values, and mindset

  • West: Strives to find and prove "the truth", more stock in individual rights

  East: Accepts the truth as given, more interest in finding the balance, more in social responsibility
• The philosophic base for and culture of fundamental research is stronger in the West
• The philosophic base for and culture of fundamental research is weaker in the East
• Key differences between Eastern and Western philosophy

  • West: Linear view of the universe, "Me" is here and now, truth needs to be proved

  East: Cyclical view of the universe, "Self" is a journey towards eternal realities, truth is given
• In the East, the way to the top is inside yourself, through self-development
• In the West, the way to the top is through active outside intervention
• In the East, collectivism is stronger, duty towards all others is important
• In the West, individualism is stronger
• In the East, the fundamentals of the status quo should not be questioned, the culture of considering and introducing radical changes is weaker
• In the West, the fundamentals of the status quo can and often should be questioned, the culture of considering and introducing radical changes is stronger
• In the East, entrepreneurial creativity and venturing is contained by the habit to control one's passions
• In the West, entrepreneurial venturing is encouraged emotionally
• A human being has an Individualistic nature and is an independent part of the universe and the society. Individualism is stronger.
• Cyclic development, hence improvement is a never ending journey that has no limits
• Linear development, hence improvement has a goal. Development stops when the goal is reached.
• The fundamentals of the status quo should not be questioned. The culture of considering and introducing radical changes is weaker.
• The fundamentals of the status quo can- and often should-be questioned. The culture of considering and introducing radical changes is stronger.
• Entrepreneurial creativity and venturing is contained by the habit to control one's passions.
• Aristotle: '"Desires are the cause of suffering. if desire, which Ves at the route of all human passion, can be removed, then passion will die out and all human suffering will be ended."'
• Entrepreneurial venturing is encouraged emotionally.
• JFred Bucy of Texas Instruments: '"Nothing is ever achieved by reasonable men."'
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: '"Nothing great was ever ashigyad without enthusisem... Always do what you are afraid to do... Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a traf."'
• Sri Aurobindo: '"Vain indeed is all overweening pride in the conquest even of the entire universe if one has not conquered one's own passions"'
• Buddha: '"Though he should conquer a thousand men in the battlefield a thousand times, yet he, indeed, who would conquer himself is the noblest victor."'
• Lao Tzu: '"He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty"'