Western and Eastern philosophy - Essay Example

Western and Eastern Philosophy Western philosophy is rational, scientific, naturalistic, focused on progress and transforming activity, while the eastern philosophy is mystical, intuitive, focused on aesthetic and ethical education. The question of being and non-being is the one of the main concepts in understanding of origin of the universe. The fact that it is addressed to the universal values shows that Eastern and Western philosophy also has common features. In the center of knowledge - the problem of good and evil; beauty and ugliness; justice and injustice.

In Western philosophy being is the word of ideas, immutable substances, enlightenment and existence. While non-being is the illusory nature of the universe. According to Eastern philosophy the universe has no beginning and no end, it existed and will exist. While, in Western philosophy birth of the universe is one of the fundamental ontological and metaphysical questions. S. Radhakrishnan says that “the world is beginningless and endless” (Radhakrishnan, 1948, p.89). In consequence, Eastern philosophy is characterized by concepts of being and non-being, it focuses on the present moment, which is not interested in the future and the past.

Western philosophy, on the contrary, focuses on more rational questions about the beginning and the end of the universe. In Eastern philosophy moral behavior is a self-conscious behavior. Behavior, implying a deeper human nature, is free from all the bonds of the selfish personality. Desire should hold back. When a person runs the desire, the soul suffers because it does not comply with the law of human existence. Inner purity is more important than external subordination. If a person is not considered a high moral law, his life will be the same as the animal existence without end and purpose, where he is randomly busy, loves, hates, cares and kills without purpose and reason.

The mind must be purified. The Upanishads assert that morality and love are forms of higher consciousness, they object to only against the word "selfishness" and everything that is ponentially connceted with it. However, for Western philosophy another worldview is specific. The theory of rational egoism originates from the philosophical constructs of such prominent thinkers of the XVII century as Locke, Hobbes, Puffendorf, Grotius. This new social situation has been reflected in the views of them of person as a natural being, whose self-interest is determined by nature.

Everyone tends to get pleasure and avoiding pain, which is associated with self-love. Every individual in all his actions comes from self-love. But he begins to realize that if he thinks only about himself and achieve all just for himself, he will face a huge number of problems, because everyone wants the same - to satisfy his needs. Nevertheless, it occurs not because of love for others, but because of selfishness. So people limit themselves to a healthy egoism for a comfortable existence. As for me, the idea of Eastern philosophy seems more interesting, because the egoism of the West can lead to social unrest, while the Eastern philosophy focused on the positive interaction between people in society.

Sense of life is the readiness to experience. We come here for a reason and in order to expand our consciousness, to increase the capacity to love. Willingness to live through anything that happens at the moment is the awakening. Such readiness is a sort of inner call. Buddhist practice is the direct observation of the present, especially of mind and matter. The concept of a personal God or divine being does not fit into the Buddhist system of religion. Many see God as an impersonal force which is made up of all living things and holds the universe together.

Enlightenment and self-knowledge are the main things for Buddhists. Their philosophy and perception of the universe do not consist in worship a particular God, but inner strength, development of the spirit, truth. S. Radhakrishnan states that European way of thinking cannot understand how the human mind “can speculate freely and remodel life when it is filled with weariness” and “overcome by a feeling of hopeless”( Radhakrishnan, 1948, p.49-50). There are three important inter-related concepts in Buddhism.

They are Samsara, Nirvana and Karma. All these concepts are directly connected with human life. On the one hand, Samsara is considered as a cycle of life full of cravings, suffering and death that people pass and face Dukkha – the state of suffering. On the other hand, Nirvana is an escape from the cycle of Sansara. In order to break the endless cycle of Samsara and reach Nirvana Buddhists should comprehence enlightenment. Karma, in its turn, is the key to people’s enlightenment. This concept is a sum of all positive and negative actions that have been done during a lifetime.

Karma is the understanding of the cause and effect of people’s deeds. So this cause-effective law allows to get Nirvana. Karma makes an individual be responsible for his life. It means that good doings make good karma, and good karma means for individual happiness in future, that is in Nirvana. This law raises a notion of morality. However, it should be understood that morality in this case means not only some positive deeds and thoughts, but awakened virtue, certain true that appears in individuals’ heart and mind which leads to happiness.

Works CitedRadhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy. Volume 1 Holland: L. Van Leer & Co N.V., 1948. Print