Eastern and Western
Eastern and Western Philosophers
Eastern and Western Philosophers
Introduction
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Life and thought for many years has been effected by Eastern and Western
philosophies, and how they view the world. Is it possible to really understand the
implications, intentions, and justifications that have led each philosopher to their beliefs?
Whether we can or cannot, we have to look at every idea and compare it to how it matches
our own thoughts and beliefs. There is a wide gulf between Buddha and John Dewey, but
looking at each in the context of the other illuminates their different culture, ages, and
essences.
Eastern Philosopher
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563–c. 483 B.C.E.) would come to be called Buddha, and his
philosophy led to the religion and philosophy called Buddhism. Buddha was curious about
why people suffered, and this made him search out why people in his kingdom suffered in a
myriad of ways. Suffering, for Buddha, was not something short-term, it was the longlasting torment contained in a human's body and soul.
Buddha had a comfortable and luxurious life, and he looked like he had everything a
person could want, even a wife and child. He still went out into the world to learn why
suffering happened and how to solve it. It took him six years of study, but Buddha
discovered that suffering came from human nature, and the tendency to fear and dread all
inevitable changes. This makes sense, in modern-day society changes happen, and these
changes change how people live and feel (Moore & Bruder, 2008).
Buddha wrote out his philosophy in the Four Noble Truths: 1) Suffering exists, 2)
Suffering exists for reasons that we can understand and see, 3) It is possible to stop
suffering, 4) living with the Eightfold Path in mind will lead to an enlightened life and the
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end of suffering (Moore & Bruder, 2008, p. 530). In fact, what the Buddha taught about
suffering and the Eightfold Path is a lot like the positive and good lifestyle that Jesus Christ
described as the way to happiness now and forever.
Buddha saw a person's karma as a source of their life's experiences and
circumstances, but he also said that not having enough or the correct knowledge led people
to suffering. Understanding Buddha's Four Noble Truths means that you must understand
the Eight Fold Path and how to enlighten a person's life.
Buddha said that living in the right and appropriate was was the only way that a
person could end their suffering. The Eight Fold Path is the eight rules or stages that mean
your life is being lived correctly. If a person follows these stages, they will have a cleaner
and better mind and actions, which makes people happy naturally.
It is important to remember that Buddha did not teach about a God or a creator, and
that people were responsible for learning how to get rid of their own earthly suffering. He
came up with the Eight Fold Path in order to let people follow it without fear or doubt. It's
impressive that Buddha's thought lines up with the teaching of the divine creator in many
ways.
Western Philosopher
John Dewey (1859–1952) was instrumental in America's pragmatist philosophical
movement. For a pragmatist, there is no such thing as a real, immutable truth. They say
that truth is defined by its time, place, and context, and that it constantly changes to
accommodate and integrate new information (Moore & Bruder, 2008, p. 222). This is
clearly true, because changes always happen no matter how we feel about them. If we do
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not change ourselves to adapt to our environments and circumstances, our lives and
personalities will stagnate and we will become trapped in a fixed environment.
Dewey came up with the modern idea of instrumentalism, meaning people's ideas
and thoughts. Dewey told people that they could use their mind to come up with solutions
to the problems in front of them, rather than looking for larger truths. He thought that
people could find the right answers to have a better life by thinking, thus reducing their
suffering. In this way, Dewey's ideas match with those of other philosophers who think
that people are able to make their lives better and find more happiness.
This is related to Buddha's Eightfold Path because he was showing people how to
better themselves and better cope with life's changes. Dewey was less concerned with
metaphysics, and he thought that searching for an absolute “answer” from the ether was
pointless because no answer had a fixed or unmoving answer. Since everything changes,
Dewey thought, the answers must also change.
I was intrigued by Dewey's idea that nature is experiential, because I thought that
what other philosophers believed about the fixed nature of objects was confusing and
illogical. Dewey says that objects stand alone and are different depending on the context
and the use it is being put to. This makes more sense to me based on my individual
experiences.
Dewey aimed to change American society, and he was an advocate of reforming
American social standards that were outdated and unfair. He wanted to reform the
education system, unjust treatment of women, and other things that were unjust at this
time in history. Clearly Dewey applied his own ideas about change to life around him, and
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he fought to use his thoughts to change the lives of society's other members. He was a very
kind and just man.
The Similarities and Differences
Buddha and Dewey have many important difference, and the most important ones
might be their different experiences of life and culture. Buddha's thoughts were aimed
more towards the mystical parts of life, but Dewey was more concerned with logic and its
applications in real life around him.
Buddha helped people to solve their own suffering through meditation and
reflection on themselves, while Dewey wanted people to take responsibility for hands-onchange in society. The only thing that their philosophies really share is that they both
cared for other people and wanted to help the people around them in their times (Moore &
Bruder, 2008).
Conclusion
The way that philosophical thinking has changed over time is really interesting to
learn and discover. Tradition and culture obviously change how people think and interact
with each other, but I think that things never actually change, just the way that people
think. I cannot agree with the thoughts of just one philosopher, because I like them both
and parts of each one appeal to me – the parts I have written about in this essay. Like
Dewey, I am a logical thinker, but since I have never been religious I also find Buddha's
mystical thinking appealing. I most agree with their concern for other people and desire to
help them.
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Reference
Moore, B. N., Bruder, K. (2008). Philosophy: The power of ideas (7th Ed.). Boston: McGrawHill Higher Education.
Eastern Influences Chapter 15
The Pragmatic and Analytic Traditions Chapter 9