A Comparison between Eastern and Western Philosophy Essay

Have you thought about the questionIs the serviceman or so us knowable? For close to western sandwichers, the answer is positive. But if you ask a Chinese the same question, you would get the reply like I preceptort know. or Does it matter? The reason pot it is the discrimination amidst east and Western philosophical system. A variety of doctrine schools around the realism have pondered these kinds of philosophic problems for thousands years and some of them argon highly vox (like Confucianism for Eastern and Platonism for Western). Though they ar confronted with the same questions, the focal points are usu exclusivelyy different from each new(prenominal), which is caused by the disparity of their opinions toward the importance of philosophical problems. Western ism lowlife be divided into Ancient classical philosophy, medieval philosophy, modern philosophy and contemporary philosophy, while Eastern philosophy includes Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, Japanes e philosophy etc. at that place is no doubt that the similarities in the midst of them are obvious, yet the focus of Eastern philosophy is in nightclub whereas Westerns is in universe.Because the understanding from a single side is al slipway partial, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the major(ip) unlikenesss between the focus and methodology of Eastern and Western philosophy traditions and justify the possible causes behind it. When it comes to philosophy, Eastern philosophers take an individual inner ground as starting point and put the principles of sociable life at the first place while Westerners will speculate on it from a universal perspective and try to figure out the principles behind the creative activity. As Fung (1984) states that from a philosophical perspective, the highest executement a man could realize is to be a sage and the daily task of dealing with social affairs in human relations is a part of the process of being a sage. However, for Western philosophers, they are inclined to put the origin of whole things in the universe at first place, and then analyze how the world works. As Windelband (1956) illustrates, the history of Western philosophy is an insight into the origin of European science in universal, which shows the reason behind Western philosophers favorence.This difference too appears in Eastern and Western philosophys attitudes toward politics. In the ancient period, both Eastern and Western philosophers played the role of form _or_ system of government maker. Dong Zhongshu, who is one of the most successful Confucian in governmental area inChinese history (as his theories had been taken as the general embodiment of the policy of running the country), put forward the Three aboriginal guides (ruler guides subject, father guides son and husband guides wife) and Five constant virtues (benevolence righteousness, propriety, wisdom and fidelity) to swear out emperor Wu to strengthen his domination (Queen, 199 6). All of these principles are highly tie in to social life since Dong believes the core of philosophy is humanity and the society needs to be ordered by regulating peoples social life. Similarly, Plato, who is a establishative figure of ancient Greek philosophy, also offered his political opinions, which is highly related to his theory of forms. As for Plato, the structure of a state is similar to a human body. The workers represent the abdomen the warriors represent the chest and the philosopher kings represent the head, which are corresponding to productive, protective and governing singly (Gaarder, 1996).It is noticeable to point out that while the Confucians political view is ground on human nature since they take individual citizen as the canonic unit of society, Platonism tries to analyze the structure of a state from a general perspective, which is focus on a general perspective. The difference between the methodology of Eastern and Western philosophy is also a heroic cin one casern. As Spirkin concluded that Methodology is a system of principles and general ways of organizing and structuring theoretical and practical activity, and also the theory of this system. Nonetheless, there is no opinion like methodology that appears in most Eastern philosophy classics. There are famous Chinese philosophical classics like the Analects of Confucius and Tao Te Ching, which are not monumental masterpieces but express their ideas through a philosophers sayings and behaviors. Does that mean there is no methodology in Eastern philosophy? The fact is the methodology of Eastern and Western philosophy is extremely different from each opposite and we cannot use the definition of Western philosophy to judge Eastern philosophy.As Easterners do not have a system of principles and methods to solve problems, they take the principles of social life as methodology, which can be summarized as doctrine of the mean. In contras, Western philosophy has a set of theories of reasoning (like syllogism and deductive reasoning), which can form peoples decisive mind habit. As Hamilton and Webster (2009) states in their book about nicety difference Difference in approach can also be seen in negotiations.Westerners expect to focus on contentious issues and try to achieve the most beneficial outcomes for themselves. In contrast, the Japanese prefer to discuss areas of agreement, with the foreboding that harmony will lead to the resolution of details. In other words, as a result of putting high value on social relationship, the methodology of Eastern philosophy comes from predecessors experiences and people chronically take others feeling into consideration, whereas Westerners usually take themselves as starting points, inspire independent and rational thoughts as well. For another instance, both Eastern and Western world had experienced a lot of straighten outs, but the leader of the reform would take totally different approaches.During the period of hund red days reform, which happened in China in 1898, Kang YouWei, who is the leader of this reform, spread his ideas of reform by annotating Confucius classics (Karl and Zarrow, 2002). Likewise, there is also a famous reform that happened in France in 1800sthe Age of enlightenment. The leaders of this reform set up their witness theories of society and pointed their arrows toward feudal class directly (Dora, 1979), which is extremely different from Kangs approach. One of the greatest reasons for the difference between Eastern and Western philosophy is geography. As Windelband (1956) notes, the history of the philosophy of the Greeks, like the history of their political development, requires a larger conception of its political relations would imply. This shows that geography plays a significantly important role in the development of philosophy. Generally speaking, the two briny sources of Eastern philosophyChina and Indiaare agriculture countries. There are two expressions in the Chi nese language which can both be translated as the world. One is all beneath the sky and the other is all within the four seas. (Fung, 1948).As agriculture activities are regular and predicable, Easterners prefer to believe past experience rather than abstract principles. Thats why the sayings and behaviors of a sage can be the best philosophy lesson for Easternersbecause they are specific and comprehendible. And yet, Western countries are very close to ocean. As Windelband (1956) cites homer The natural link of the three great continents was this sea, with its islands and coasts occupied by the most gifted of people, which from the earliest historical times had settled all its coasts. As a result, most Western countries are highly commercialized and industrialized. revolution andbreakthrough are always greatly required, which means only the theories establish on logic and reasoning can be valued. As Confucius once said, The wise move the good stay still. The wise are beaming the good endure (Confucius and James, 2010). Though it is not his original meaning, this saying shows the difference between the personality of the ancient Chinese and Greeks from a geographical perspective. permits move back to the question at the beginningIs the world around us knowable? The different answers toward it imply the real reasons behind the differences between Eastern and Western philosophy and that is the ways they look the world. man Easterners pay attention to the balance of the inner world, Westerners are trying to enchant the outside world. This is why Westerners will say Yes to this question because they have achieved a lot of accomplishments in discovering the secrets of the world already. But for most Easterners they pay more than attention to their daily life and relationships with others, which make them cannot respond to this question with a certain answer. Both the differences of emphasis and methodology can be explained from this perspective. To a great ext ent, geographical factors contributed enormously to this process and sometimes make the possibility grow. Eastern and Western philosophy need to learn from each other, as it is the only way to recognize the advantages and disadvantages of themselves. We all have a public opinion that he different philosophy will melt with each other rather than against in the future.