THE WESTERN AND EASTERN CONCEPTS OF
Western Self as Individualistic
SELF
“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
WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF
 Geertz (van Meijl, 2008) defines the
Western concept of Self as “a bounded,
unique, more or less integrated
motivational and cognitive universe, a
dynamic center 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.
WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF IS HOLISTICALLY
DEFINED IN TERMS OF THE FOLLOWING
ASPECTS:
1. Western Self as Analytic
 The western of thinking is analytic-
deductive with emphasis on the casual link
(part-to-whole relationships)
 The whole is understood when
differentiated into parts.
 One must categorize and make distinctions
to pursue cause.
2. Western Self as Monotheistic
 The belief in one Supreme Being coexisting
with the universe condenses the
supernatural and human capabilities into
bipolarity of qualities of existence (.eg.
Beautiful/ugly: kind/cruel)
 And categories of identity and existence.
3.
 Western individualism exhibits the
coexistence of favorable and unfavorable
conditions inherent in personal freedom
4. Western Self as Materialistic and
Rationalistic
 The Western way of thinking is focused on
material “things” and favors a rational-
empirical approach over magical approach
and superstitious explanations of immaterial
“things”.
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF
1. Pre-Christian time until 1850
 There were philosophical and theological
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 thee causality of human behavior.
2. 1850 -1940
 The establishment of experiment
psychology in mid-nineteenth century led to
a change in emphasis from abstract
concepts of soul and mind to observable
and measurable aspect of human faculties.
 The concept of self-re-emerged within the
social interactionist framework in the early
1900s
3. 1940-present
 There is a multi-directional and continuous
development of concept of self:
a. Sociological and psychological theories of
self encompass all three levels of self,
namely inner self, interpersonal self and
social self.
 b. Existentialist and phenomenologist,
both in philosophy and psychology,
engaged in holistic approach integrating
the inner, interpersonal, and social
aspects of self.
c. At present, there is convergence in
some conceptualizations of the self
among psychologists, anthropologist,
sociologists, philosophers, and linguist
whose studies focus on the actual,
multivariate and situational contest of
the self-employing new frameworks and
methodologies.
EASTERN CONCEPT OF SELF
 Philosophy and religion are twisted
together, thus the major Eastern religion
such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism,
and Taoism are also the common
representatives of Eastern thought.
 Eastern thought is described as pluralistic
(Garcia ,2013)
THE SELF IN FOUR GREAT SYSTEMS OF EASTERN
THOUGHT
What is the importance of our culture?
 Culture sets the cultural standards of our
community.
NORMS – dictates our behavior in the society.
 Culture is made up of all the ideas, beliefs,
behaviors, and products common to
defining a group’s way of life (Stolley, 2005).
 All human beings have these diverse
cultures and it contributes on how we were
raised in the society and affects the way we
see things.
Anthropology
 Is the study of human race, it’s culture and
society, and its physical development?
 Deals on the origin of humanity and the
development of its society and culture.
Sociology
 The scientific study of human life, social
groups, while societies and the human
world whose subject matter is our own
behaviour as social beings in relationship
with many other people (Giddens, A. &
Sutton, P.W.,2016).
CULTURE
 Anthropology
- Understanding man in its cultural context.
 Sociology
- Digs into understanding the self in reference to
the behaviour of the society.
MATERIAL CULTURE
 Consist of human technology – all the things
that people make and use
 It changes from time to time. The fluidity of
the culture can be ascribed to mans’ distinct
ability to create, transform, and re-create
culture itself.
 The evolution of the material culture can be
attributed to the technological advances
that humanity was able to make.
NON – MATERIAL CULTURE
 inclusive of the intangible human creations
that include, beliefs, values, norms, and
symbols.
 non- material culture helps in shaping our
perspective of the society, of ourselves and
even of the material world.
 non-material culture could also manifest in
the material culture of people.
 material culture changes overtime, non-
material culture may or may not change
depending on outside factors in the society.