TOPIC 5

THE WESTERN AND EASTERN CONCEPTS OF SELF

I. Module Overview
This chapter outlines the Western and Eastern concepts of self and how they differ and agree on
certain perspective. The Western conceptualization of the self is divided into three periods of
historical development while the Eastern concepts of the self are presented based on the four
great systems of Eastern though: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.

II. Desired Learning Outcomes

At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
 Explain the Western concept of self;
 Enumerate and discuss the different Eastern conceptions of self;
 Compare Eastern and Western views of the self; and
 Examine your own conceptualization of self.

III. Take-off/Motivation

“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.”
-Edward T. Hall

IV. Content Focus

Definition of Terms:

WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF

o “a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a
dynamic canter of awareness, emotion, judgment, and action organized into a distinctive
whole and set contrastively both against other such wholes and against its social and
natural background…” Geertz (van Meijl, 2008)
o This construction of an autonomous, unitary, and stable self in the West is grounded in a
contrasting assumption that non-western(such as eastern) people do not possess an
individuated self that is differentiated from the “other”.
o For that reason, the delusion of the separate self is likely to be stronger in individuals
raised in individualistic Western societies.
o It is in this sense that the Western concept of self is holistically defined in terms of the
following aspects:

Western Self as Analytic

The Western way of thinking is analytic-deductive with emphasis on the causal
links (part-to-whole relationships). The whole is understood when differentiated
into parts. One must categorize and make distinctions to pursue cause.

Western Self as Monotheistic

The belief in one Supreme Being coexisting with the universe condenses the
supernatural and human capabilities into bipolarity of both qualities of existence
(e.g.; beautiful/ugly; kind/cruel; sacred/profane; strong/weak; etc.) and categories
of identity or experience (e.g., God/Satan; body/soul; love/lust; sinner/saint; etc.)

Western Self as Individualistic

Western individualism exhibits the coexistence of favorable and unfavorable
conditions inherent in personal freedom. Although the right to individual
freedom provides opportunities for self-fulfillment, it also increases the
likelihood of experiencing alienation and frustration.

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 Western Self as Materialistic
The Western way of thinking is focused on material “things” and favors a
rational-empirical approach over magical and superstitious explanations of
immaterial “things”.

o David Ho (1995) describes the Western self as an individualistic self that is deeply aware
of itself, its uniqueness, sense of direction purpose, and volition.
o The self is located at the center within the individual through which the world is
perceived.
o The self is also seen as “an entity distinct from other selves and all other entities.” This
implies that the self belongs to the individual and to no other. As a consequence of this
complete ownership of self, it becomes a sovereign subject possessing a sense of personal
control.
o If all things are well, the self-achieves coherence and stability over time. In an
individualist perspective, the Western self is the measure of all things (Ho, 1995; Garcia,
2013), that is the source of all reflections.
o Frank Johnson (1985) traces the earliest historical roots of the Western concept of the self
to works on philosophy, almost half a million years ago.
o By the middle and nineteenth centuries, psychology has provided answers to
philosophical questions about the concepts of soul and mind.
o Experimental psychology came into prominence during the mid-nineteenth century and
put forth the concept of self within the social-interactionist framework.
o The growth of sociology, anthropology and psychology in the late nineteenth century saw
the emergence of various concepts of self, among them the Western concept.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF

STAGE PERIOD HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
Pre-christian times until  There were philosophical and theological
1 1850 attempts to characterize the self through the
concepts of soul and mind with emphasis on
conscious experience of the individual,
distinction between physical and mental
nature of man (mind-body dualism), and the
causality of human behavior.
2 1850-1940  The establishment of experimental
psychology in mid-nineteenth century led to a
change in emphasis from abstract concepts of
soul and mind to observable and measurable
aspects of human faculties.
 The concepts of self re-emerged within the
social interactionist framework in the early
1900’s.
3 1940-present  There is a multidirectional and continuous
development of concept of self:
a. Sociological and psychological
theories of self-encompass three
levels of self, namely inner self,
interpersonal self, and social self.
b. Existentialists and phenomenologists,
both in philosophy and psychology,
engaged in holistic approach
integrating the inner, interpersonal,
and social aspects of self.
c. At presence, there is convergence in
some conceptualizations of the self
among psychologists,
anthropologists, sociologists,
philosophers, and linguists whose
studies focus on the actual,
multivariate, and situational contexts

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 of the self-employing new
frameworks and methodologies.

EASTERN CONCEPT OF SELF

o In the East, philosophy and religion are twisted together.
o The major Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism are also the
common representatives of Eastern thought.
o These Eastern intellectual traditions differ greatly in features and approaches to various issues
about selfhood. For this reason, the Eastern thought is described to be pluralistic (Garcia, 2013).
o Although these four systems of Eastern thought differ in their approaches about the concept of
self, they share the same goal – to teach how to become a perfect person (Villaba, 1995).

The Self in Four Great Systems of Eastern Thought SHIVA

 HINDUISM
The Hindu concept of self is expounded in Vendeta, a major school of
Indian thought based on Upanishads, the classical Indian philosophical
treatises. It has been stated that Brahman is an absolute reality, and Atman
(soul/spirit), the true knowledge of self, is identical to Brahman. Vendeta
characterizes human sufferings 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). The goal https://
of the person
www.hinduwebsite.com/
is to have a knowledge of the true reality – Brahman. But the
hinduism/images/shiva-01.jpg
realization of true selfhood will result in a complete dissolution of
individual identity (Ho, 1995).

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 rewarded, if you do bad, you will be punished.
Therefore, the individual is the only one responsible of his or her actions (Garcia, 2008).

Hindus believed that Atman, being an immortal soul, continues to be reincarnated from lifetime
to lifetime until it is freed from the cycle of rebirth and reaches a state of nirvana or non-birth
(Garcia, 2008). Karma does not end with a body’s death, so its influence
may extend through incarnation of the soul. Individuals cannot change the Siddharta Gautama
fact that they are exactly what they are supposed to be in life, In the
present lifetime, they can change what they will become in future lives.

 BUDDHISM
Siddharta Gautama, known as the Buddha, is the founder of Buddhism.
The root word of Buddhism is budh meaning awake. To be awake may imply
that opening the eyes would lead to understanding more about the self and the
world. According to the teachings of Buddhism, every person has
the seed of enlightenment, hence, the potential to behttps://www.pronounceitright.com/
a Buddha. But
the seed should be nurtured (Mansukhani, 2013). upload/pronuncia/7399/
Buddha_lantau.jpg

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

The basic principles of Buddhism:
1. Life is suffering;
2. Suffering is caused by attachment to desires;
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 mindfulness, and
right concentration).

In Buddhist philosophy, man is just a title for the summation of the five parts (matter, sensation,
perception, mental constructs and consciousness) that compose the individual, however each of
the parts distinctly is not man (Villaba, 1995). Man has no self

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 9or no-soul). There is only nothing and all else is an illusion. There is nothing permanent but
change. The ignorance of the impermanence of everything may lead to an illusion of selfhood.
This primal ignorance is the cause of life’s misery, births, and rebirths. The perfect moral-
intellectual knowledge becomes powerful in the sense that it eliminates the cause of one’s misery
and awakens one from the illusion of selfhood. The ideal is to experience Nirvana (literally
meaning, “blowing out”, as a lamp), a state of transcendence devoid of self-reference. This state
of transcendence can be achieved through meditation (Ho, 1995).

 CONFUCIANISM
The Confucian doctrine are found in the Analects (Conversations of Confucius). The core of CONFUCIUS
Confucian thought is the Golden Rule or the principle of reciprocity: “Do not
do to others what you would not want others to do to you.” Thus, the basic
virtue or proper conduct is knowing how to act in relation to others.

FIVE CARDINAL RELATIONSHIP

The most important of relationships; https://ap-

1. Between ruler and minister, pics2.gotpoem.com/ap-

pics/user/
2. Between father and son, 4918/733big.jpg?
confuciusjpg425
3. Between husband and wife,
4. Between brothers,
5. Between friends.
Hence, the self is known as a relational self. Another important feature in Confucian thought
is the individual’s greatest mission of attaining self-realization wherein self-cultivation is
instrumental. Self-cultivation could be accomplished by knowing one’s role in society and
acting accordingly. Moral character is perfected by continuously taking every opportunity to
improve oneself in thought and action. There will be harmonious relationships when
individuals follow the rules of proper social bahevior. The individual is set to respond to what
is socially required rather than to one’s personal needs and goals. Here, the self is a subdued
self (Ho, 1995).
 TAOISM
Taoism is a Chinese counterculture. Taoists reject the Confucian idea of a relational
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). It is not bounded by time and
space. The ideal is to identify with the Tao. The perfect man has no self. Selflessness is
attained when the distinction between “I” and “other” dissolves. Consequently, the individual
may behave spontaneously, just going with the flow of the Tao. The selfless person leads to a
balanced life, in harmony with both nature and society (Ho, 1995). 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 should be unity and
harmony among opposing elements: the yin and yang (Abella, 2016). Hence, there is oneness
of the Tao.

DICHOTOMY OF WESTERN AND EASTERN CONCEPTIONS OF SELF

Eastern thoughts:
 An extensive literature on Eastern thoughts about the self exists.
 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 considered
not in isolation but in relation to others, society, and the universe. Eastern thoughts aim at
transformations in consciousness, feelings, emotions, and one’s relation to other people and the
world.
 The theories of Eastern philosophers demonstrate a socio-eccentric view presupposing that the
self exists as an entity within the concrete situation or role occupied by the person (Robbins,
2012).

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 Western thoughts:
 Western thoughts tend to view the self as autonomous, unitary, and stable (van Meijl, 2008)
 Western thoughts about the self have been examined by renowned theorists like Freud, Erikson,
Bandura, Rogers, Jung, James, Mead, Cooley, and others. They have conducted scientific
investigations in an effort to understand the self and have developed theories and concepts to
account for the similarities and difference among them.
 They emphasize the importance of scientific methods to provide satisfactory answers to
understanding the self.
 Eastern theories offer a variety of techniques for cultivating a deeper understanding of the self.
However, they do not utilize the scientific techniques of investigation.
It is vitally important that both East and West appreciate each other’s attempts to understand the self.
To do so can only enrich both (Engler, 2012). Thus, Quito (Garcia, 2013) seeks to place Western and
Eastern theories of the self into perspective by making some comparisons and contrast among them.
For instance, Asian thought looks at life in the three-mode cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. On the
other hand, the Western concept of life is linear as it is concerned with absolute beginnings or endings
in time and space. Asian thought does not dichotomize between one’s way of thinking and one’s way
of living. This implies that one’s thought, action, and speech should be in harmony. Asian thought
considers intuition as a valid means to gain wisdom, it does not rely mainly on reason and logic
which are the more popular sources of knowledge in the West.
Another distinction between Eastern and Western thoughts is about nature and self. According to
Sarza (2013), one unique feature of Eastern philosophy is its 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. On the other hand, 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
fallen and evil. However, recently there are objections to this view of nature opposing the human
being. It has been argued that the individual and nature are part of a single whole.
The chart that follows categorizes the Western and Eastern conceptualizations of self, perspectives,
and approaches:

Comparative Matrix of Western and Eastern Approaches to Understanding the Self

DIMENSION WESTERN THOUGHT EASTERN THOUGHT
There is a separation between Religion and philosophy are
Frame of Reference philosophy and intertwined
religion/spirituality
Examples of Schools of Scholasticism Hinduism
thought/Belief Systems Rationalism Buddhism
Empiricism Confucianism
Phenomenology Taoism
Notable Philosophers Greek Triumvirate: Socrates, Confucius
Plato, Aristotle Lao tzu
Rene Descartes Siddharta Gautama
John Locke (Buddha)
Source of Knowledge Has made use of reason rather Has trusted intuition and is often
than faith to pursue wisdom associated with religious beliefs
Modes of Cognition Analytic and deductive Synthetic and inductive
Emphasis Distinctions and oppositions Commonalities and harmonies
View of the Universe and Life Linear Circular
View of Self Egocentric Sociocentric
Subject-Object Distinction Duality of elf-as-subject Simultaneously subject and
(Bipolar Qualities of Self) (knower) and self-as-object object (The experience of self as
(known) both the knower and known)
Theological View Monotheistic Polytheistic (pluralistic)
Ideal Self-actualization through To achieve a balanced life and
personal growth find one’s role in society
Cultural Framework Individualism Collectivism
a. The self is a distinct and a. The self is integrated

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 autonomous entity; it is part of the universe and
an independent part of the society
the universe and the b. Interdependence and
society connectedness are core
b. Independence and self- values
reliance are core values c. No distinctions between
c. Prioritize personal goals personal and group
over group goals goals, or if there is a
d. Characterized by distinction, the personal
exchange relationship goals are subordinate to
e. Uniqueness, sense of the group goals.
direction, purpose and d. Characterized by
volition are the communal relationship
acknowledged features e. Conformity and
of self. obedience are essential
f. Personal success is social behaviors
important. f. Duty towards all others
is important.

The application of the different perspectives and approaches contributed to improvements in the
conceptualization of self. The Western and Eastern perspectives of the self grew from a combination
of sociology, anthropology, psychology, theology, and religion. The Western and Eastern thoughts
attempt to combine the good elements of the different disciplines to totally understand the self.

References

1. Alata, C., Serafica, and Pawile., (n.d). Understanding the Self

2. Understanding the Self pdf retrieved on August 29, 2020 at
https://ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Understanding-the-Self.pdf
3. “Understanding the Self” by Ma. Joycelyn A. Go-Monilla & Normaliza C.
Ramirez.

Compiled and edited by

PHOEBE M. CASTILLO, RPM

Instructor I, College of Arts and Sciences

JITHER KEN V. PATALINGHUG, RPM

Instructor I, College of Education

ALVIN M. MAHAWAN, LPT. MAEd

Instructor I, College of Education

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Name:______________________________ Date:__________
Course/Yr & Section:_________________ Rating:________

WORKSHEET NO. 5

PART I.
INSTRUCTION: Multiple choice. Encircle the letter that corresponds to your answer.

1. All are schools of thought in the East except:

a. Buddhism
b. Empiricism
c. Hinduism
d. Confucianism
2. All are schools of thought in the West except:
a. Rationalism
b. Scholasticism
c. Taoism
d. Phenomenology
3. The _____ thought assumes that the self is the measure of all things.
a. Eastern
b. Filipino
c. Western
d. Collectivist
4. Eastern thought emphasizes ________.
a. Distinction
b. Oppositions
c. Individualism
d. Harmony
5. The ideal of ____ is self-actualization through personal growth.
a. Western thought
b. Eastern thought
c. Filipino thought
d. Indian thought

PART II.
INSTRUCTION: The strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino character have their roots in
Western and Eastern traditions. Write an introspective essay about your character as a Filipino,
using the following guide questions: You can answer on the space provided in the next page.

1. What are your Western, Eastern, and Filipino characteristics that can help you succeed in life?
2. Are you happy for having this combination of traits?
3. How do you appreciate your uniqueness as a Filipino? How do you feel as a Filipino?
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