Philosophy Now Forum

I am a westerner... I have studied western philosophy..
and have done some, minor, and I mean minor study of
eastern philosophy... although I have several books about
Chinese and Indian philosophy... I haven't really read any of them....

the other day, as I often do, I was reading the "Standford encyclopedia
of Philosophy" and I came across an article about comparative philosophy...
comparing western philosophy with eastern philosophy...

and this peak my interest... and I have been reading about
comparative philosophy in several different websites...
and my quick take is that my philosophy is more attuned to eastern
philosophy rather than western philosophy... the east is more concerned
with ethics and being part of the whole, whereas the west seems to be more
about seeking what is out there and understanding that...
the east seems to be about fitting within a society/state whereas
the west seems to be more about the state/society and the individual
less.... the act of rebellion that is common in the west is rare within
eastern philosophy... one of the major traits of eastern philosophy
is this idea of filial piety... which means to be good to one's parents,
to take care of one parent's, to engage in good conduct not just toward the
parents, but also outside the home as to bring a good name to ones' parents
and ancestors... to perform the duties of one's job well, to bring a good
name to one's parents....to bring honor to one's family by being
a dutiful son/daughter....filial piety is central to Confucian role ethics...

whereas in the west, we rarely ever talk about our role or our conduct
in regard to one's family or parents....it is left unsaid and ignored...
having no bearing on what it means to be ethical.....and that
filial piety is central to ethics/morals in the east...

in the east, being attuned to what the state and society needs is
a major part of ethics and morals... eastern philosophy is
much more engaged with holistic thinking...

Holistic: characterized by the belief that the parts of something
are interconnected and can only be explained by reference to the
whole... in medicine: characterized by the treatment of
the whole person.. taking into mental and social factors..
rather than just the symptoms of the illness...

this holistic approach of the east, instead of the ''ad hoc" method of the west
brings about a more comprehensive picture of the "soul sickness'' of the
west.... that doesn't seem to be, doesn't seem to be, present in the east today...

the call in the west for a more holistic approach has been around for a few years,
perhaps now we can move even more that way....and we can begin in
philosophy.... so, instead of having a ''western philosophy''
and an ''eastern philosophy" we can combine the two and just
have a philosophy....

so, how do we combine western philosophy with eastern philosophy?

Kropotkin

one of the major factors in eastern philosophy is
conflicts.. and conflicts resolution....one of the primary
questions in eastern philosophy is this:

''How can man achieve a harmony with his fellow man?'' and
''How can man achieve a harmony with nature?"

these two questions drive much of eastern philosophy....

and the answer is different in the west than it is in the east....

Kropotkin

one of the perennially problems of philosophy, both east and west,
is nature... in the west, we try to control nature, in the east,
they try to be part of nature... to work with nature...instead
of dominating nature like we do in the west...

do you try to control or dominate or do you work with and try
to be a part of... the state/society/nature?

Kropotkin

I usually tryta control and dominate everything but hold up. Great things always happen to objects, events, circumstances, processes, environments, animals and people when I'm in control of em... so naturally it is my obligation and duty to uphold the greater good, to concern myself with the welfare of the common man and provide leadership for the people.

promethean75 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 6:25 pm I usually tryta control and dominate everything but hold up. Great things always happen to objects, events, circumstances, processes, environments, animals and people when I'm in control of em... so naturally it is my obligation and duty to uphold the greater good, to concern myself with the welfare of the common man and provide leadership for the people.

K: and to whose benefit do you work for, yours or the "greater good" the
''common man?" and that answer makes all the difference in the world...

Kropotkin

one question in the west anyway, is this:

what is the good life and what does it take to achieve it?
what role does a society/state have in my creating my own
''good life?''

what should we do, socially and economically and politically do,
to help others seek out the "good life?"

as we are social creatures, of the social, by the social and within the social..
we cannot, ever, escape being social... for to do so is to die... it is that
simple... we must be social creatures or we die...

so, any attempt to discover what it means to be human or to find
out what the "good life" is, must take into account the social aspect
of being human...

we cannot discover what it means to be human if, if we have
no idea what our social being status is....

to say, "I am human" is to say, I am a social being... and how does
that lead me to discover what it means to find the ''good life?"

Kropotkin

I see what u mean. I need to find my truth, keter... need to examine my life, my principles, my values. I need to start aksing myself the hard questions and taking responsibility for my life. Am I a good man? Have I been a good son? A good partner? A good wage worker or business owner? What is the good and how can I be it. That's what I'm tryna do keter propotkin.

promethean75 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 7:49 pm I see what u mean. I need to find my truth, keter... need to examine my life, my principles, my values. I need to start aksing myself the hard questions and taking responsibility for my life. Am I a good man? Have I been a good son? A good partner? A good wage worker or business owner? What is the good and how can I be it. That's what I'm tryna do keter propotkin.

You and me both, friend.

A little different in some ways but not others, to be clearer.