WHAT IS MAN FOR WESTERN AND EASTERN

PHILOSOPHER?
IN THE TRADITION OF THE WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT, MAN OCCUPIES THE CENTRAL POSITION
SINCE THE TIME OF THE SOPHISTS OF THE ANCIENT GREECE. ‘MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS’ ,
DELACRED PROTAGORAS. THE SUBJECT – MATTER OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOPHISTS IS MAN WHO IS
AN INDIVIDUAL AND A SOCIAL BEING. THUS THE DIGNITY OF MAN IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY WAS FIRST
ESTABLISHED BY THE SOPHISTS. BUT THEY FAILED TO GRASP THE REAL NATURE OF MAN. ACCORDING TO
THEM, MAN IS NOTHING BUT THE SUM TOTAL OF SENSATION, DESIRES AND EMOTIONS.
• SOCRATES (469 – 399 B.C.) CHALLENGED THEM, AND SAID THAT REASON, NOT SENSE – PERCEPTION , IS
THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE. ‘MAN, KNOW THYSELF’ WAS HIS CLARION CALL TO HIS FELLOW HUMAN
BEINGS. ACCORDING TO HIM, MAN IS NOT AN ASSEMBLAGE OF SENSATIONS, DESIRES AND EMOTIONS ;
BUT WISDOM AND THOUGHT CONSTITUTE HIS TRUE NATURE. HE PUT EMPHASIS UPON MORAL NATURE OF
MAN AND SAID THAT KNOWLEDGE IS VIRTUE.
WHAT IS MAN FOR WESTERN AND EASTERN
PHILOSOPHY?
FOR CONFUCIUS BELIEVED THAT “ THE MEASURE OF MAN “, HE SAID “IS MAN”. THE NATURE OF DUTIES OF
THE HUMAN BEING MUST BE STUDIED DILIGENTLY AND CULTIVATED, HE INSISTED, AND HUMANITY IS TO BE
LOVED. CONFUCIUS BELIEVED THAT THROUGH HUMANISTIC THINKING AND ACTION THAT THE SUPERIOR
MAN CAN MAKE THE TAO OR WAY GREAT HE BELIEVED THAT. CONFUCIUS BELIEVED THAT EVERYTHINGS
THRIVES ACCORDING TO ITS NATURE AND THAT WAY THAT HEAVEN WORKS THROUGH THE PRINCIPLE OF
MEAN. HE BELIEVED THAT WHEN THINGS FUNCTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MEAN THAT THEY STAND IN
A RELATIONSHIP OF MUTUAL INDEPENDENCE.
SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA
SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA, KNOWN AS THE BUDDHA, WAS THE INDIAN SPIRITUAL TEACHER WHO FOUNDED
BUDDHISM. IT IS GENERALLY AGREED THAT HE WAS BORN CIRCA 563 BCE—THOUGH ESTIMATES RANGE A
CENTURY TO EACH SIDE—AS A PRINCE IN THE SHAKYA KINGDOM IN MODERN-DAY NEPAL. UPON BECOMING
AWARE OF HUMAN SUFFERING, HE LEFT HIS KINGDOM TO BECOME AN ASCETIC. HE THEN DEVELOPED THE MIDDLE
WAY—A MODERATE PATH BETWEEN SELF-MORTIFICATION AND SELF-INDULGENCE—AND SOON ATTAINED
ENLIGHTENMENT INTO THE CAUSES OF AND SOLUTIONS TO HUMAN SUFFERING AT AGE 35. HE SPENT THE NEXT 45
YEARS PREACHING HIS PHILOSOPHY ACROSS WHAT ARE TODAY NORTHERN AND EASTERN INDIAN AND NEPAL. AS
HE GAINED FOLLOWERS, HE ESTABLISHED THE FIRST SANGHA—A BODY OF BUDDHIST MONKS—THAT WOULD GO
ON TO PRESERVE AND SPREAD HIS TEACHINGS AFTER HIS DEATH CIRCA 486 BCE, AT WHICH TIME BUDDHISTS
BELIEVE HE ABANDONED HIS BODY AND ACHIEVED PARINIRVANA, THE FINAL DEATHLESS STATE FOR THOSE WHO
HAVE ACHIEVED COMPLETE ENLIGHTENMENT IN LIFE.
BUDDHA’S FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
• 1. THE NOBLE TRUTH OF SUFFERING
• 2. THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING
• 3. THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING
• 4. THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE WAY TO THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF SUFFERING
• BESIDES “SUFFERING,” OTHER TRANSLATIONS OF THE PALI WORD DUKKHA INCLUDE
UNSATISFACTORINESS, DIS-EASE, AND INSTABILITY. ALL THESE WORDS POINT TO THE FACT THAT NO
CONDITIONED PHENOMENON CAN PROVIDE TRUE (LASTING) HAPPINESS IN OUR LIVES. THE FIRST STEP IN
A SPIRITUAL LIFE IS TO LOOK VERY CLOSELY AND HONESTLY AT OUR EXPERIENCE OF LIFE AND SEE THAT
THERE IS SUFFERING. WE TEND TO OVERLOOK OR IGNORE OR JUST BLINDLY REACT TO THE UNPLEASANT,
SO IT CONTINUALLY HAUNTS US. YET ALTHOUGH PHYSICAL SUFFERING IS A NATURAL ASPECT OF OUR
LIVES, WE CAN LEARN TO TRANSCEND MENTAL SUFFERING.
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE CAUSE OF
SUFFERING
• THROUGH A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THINGS TRUELY EXIST, WE CREATE AND RECREATE AN
INDEPENDENT SELF ENTITY CALLED “ME.”
• THE WHOLE OF OUR EXPERIENCE IN LIFE CAN BE VIEWED THROUGH THIS SENSE OF SELF. IN
CONSEQUENCE, VARIOUS CRAVINGS GOVERN OUR ACTIONS. CRAVINGS ARISE FOR SENSE EXPERIENCES,
FOR “BEING” OR “BECOMING” (E.G. RICH, FAMOUS, LOVED, RESPECTED, IMMORTAL), AND TO AVOID THE
UNPLEASANT. THESE CRAVINGS ARE THE ROOT CAUSE OF SUFFERING.
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE CESSATION OF
SUFFERING

• THE MIND CAN BE PURIFIED OF ALL THE MENTAL DEFILEMENTS THAT CAUSE SUFFERING. NIBBANA, THE
ULTIMATE PEACE, HAS BEEN COMPARED TO THE EXTINCTION OF A THREE-FOLD FIRE OF LUST, ILL-WILL, AND
DELUSION. ONE WHO HAS REALISED CESSATION HAS GREAT PURITY OF HEART, OCEAN-LIKE COMPASSION,
AND PENETRATING WISDOM.
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE WAY OF THE
CESSATION OF SUFFERING
• PATH TO THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING (MAGGA)
• THE FINAL NOBLE TRUTH IS THE BUDDHA'S PRESCRIPTION FOR THE END OF SUFFERING. THIS IS A SET OF
PRINCIPLES CALLED THE EIGHTFOLD PATH.
• THE EIGHTFOLD PATH IS ALSO CALLED THE MIDDLE WAY: IT AVOIDS BOTH INDULGENCE AND SEVERE
ASCETICISM, NEITHER OF WHICH THE BUDDHA HAD FOUND HELPFUL IN HIS SEARCH FOR
ENLIGHTENMENT.
THE EIGHT DIVISIONS
• 1. RIGHT UNDERSTANDING - SAMMĀ DITTHI
• 2. RIGHT INTENTION - SAMMĀ SAN̄KAPPA
• 3. RIGHT SPEECH - SAMMĀ VĀCĀ
• 4. RIGHT ACTION - SAMMĀ KAMMANTA
• 5. RIGHT LIVELIHOOD - SAMMĀ ĀJĪVA
• 6. RIGHT EFFORT - SAMMĀ VĀYĀMA
• 7. RIGHT MINDFULNESS - SAMMĀ SATI
• 8. RIGHT CONCENTRATION - SAMMĀ SAMĀDHI
LAOZI

• LAO-TZU (ALSO KNOWN AS LAOZI OR LAO-TZE) WAS A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER CREDITED WITH FOUNDING
THE PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEM OF TAOISM. HE IS BEST KNOWN AS THE AUTHOR OF THE TAO-TE-CHING, THE
WORK WHICH EXEMPLIFIES HIS THOUGHT. THE NAME BY WHICH HE IS KNOWN IS NOT A PERSONAL NAME
BUT AN HONORIFIC TITLE MEANING `OLD MAN’ OR `OLD TEACHER’ AND THERE HAS BEEN COUNTLESS
SPECULATION AS TO WHETHER AN INDIVIDUAL BY THAT NAME EVER EXISTED OR WHETHER LAO-TZU IS AN
AMALGAM OF MANY DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHERS
TAOISM

• TAOISM (ALSO KNOWN AS DAOISM) IS A CHINESE PHILOSOPHY ATTRIBUTED TO LAO TZU (C. 500 BCE)
WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE FOLK RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE PRIMARILY IN THE RURAL AREAS
OF CHINA AND BECAME THE OFFICIAL RELIGION OF THE COUNTRY UNDER THE TANG DYNASTY. TAOISM IS
THEREFORE BOTH A PHILOSOPHY AND A RELIGION. IT EMPHASIZES DOING WHAT IS NATURAL AND "GOING
WITH THE FLOW" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TAO (OR DAO), A COSMIC FORCE WHICH FLOWS THROUGH
ALL THINGS AND BINDS AND RELEASES THEM
• TAOISM EXERTED A GREAT INFLUENCE DURING THE TANG DYNASTY (618-907 CE) AND THE EMPEROR
XUANZONG (REIGNED 712-756 CE) DECREED IT A STATE RELIGION, MANDATING THAT PEOPLE KEEP TAOIST
WRITINGS IN THEIR HOME. IT FELL OUT OF FAVOR AS THE TANG DYNASTY DECLINED AND WAS REPLACED
BY CONFUCIANISM AND BUDDHISM BUT THE RELIGION IS STILL PRACTICED THROUGHOUT CHINA AND
OTHER COUNTRIES TODAY.
CONFUCIUS

• CONFUCIUS'S PRINCIPLES HAVE COMMONALITY WITH CHINESE TRADITION AND BELIEF. HE CHAMPIONED
STRONG FAMILY LOYALTY, ANCESTOR VENERATION, AND RESPECT OF ELDERS BY THEIR CHILDREN AND OF
HUSBANDS BY THEIR WIVES, RECOMMENDING FAMILY AS A BASIS FOR IDEAL GOVERNMENT. HE
ESPOUSED THE WELL-KNOWN PRINCIPLE "DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU DO NOT WANT DONE TO
YOURSELF", THE GOLDEN RULE. HE IS ALSO A TRADITIONAL DEITY IN DAOISM.
CONFUCIANISM

• CONFUCIANISM IS OFTEN CHARACTERIZED AS A SYSTEM OF SOCIAL AND ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY RATHER

THAN A RELIGION. IN FACT, CONFUCIANISM BUILT ON AN ANCIENT RELIGIOUS FOUNDATION TO ESTABLISH
THE SOCIAL VALUES, INSTITUTIONS, AND TRANSCENDENT IDEALS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE SOCIETY.