Week 1 - Intro East and West Flashcards

Question

E - Buddhism by Buddha

Answer 1

Seeking the good of others is woven throughout the teachings of “the Master” or “the Enlightened One” Buddha teaches that suffering is a part of being and that this suffering is brought on by the human emotion of desire. In Buddhist philosophy, Nirvana is a state in which the self is freed from the desire for anything - ascended beyond human needs End goal - a life full of love, compassion, joy, and self-control both premortal and postmortal nirvana states are proposed as possible for the individual. Postmortal nirvana may be similar to the Christian idea of heaven. The paths to achieving these virtues within Buddhism require humans to divorce themselves from the human emotion of desire to put an end to suffering.

Answer 2

emphasize the interconnectedness of all things. One’s goal within this tradition would be to live life so fully and so correctly that one would go directly to the afterlife without having to repeat life’s lessons in a reincarnated form quest of one’s life is to attain ultimate self-knowledge and to strive for ultimate self-betterment Karma - better placement in reincarnation due to good actions in the previous life “Good action” is also encouraged in the sense that, if one does not reach ultimate self-knowledge in one’s life and thus does have to return to Earth via reincarnation after death, the previous life’s good actions correlate directly with better placement in the world in the subsequent life - karma.

Answer 3

Lots of overlap in terms of what we value - not completely separate

Answer 4

Judeo-christian - understanding god’s plan - impossible Confucianism - transform and regulate social order Ojibwe - cherishing knowledge To sum up - we will try to learn from different traditions in order to understand what the good life is

Answer 5

Any person with a good idea can succeed in the pursuit of personal goals through hard work Think of themselves in isolation Equal rights and freedom- depending on the subculture Capitalist economy Individualism was linked to the emphases on equal rights and freedom found in the US as well as the country’s capitalistic economy and open frontiers Personal and individual goals, as exemplified by the construct of hope, seem to be the primary tool of the “rugged individualist

Answer 6

Concern for the individual greater than concern for the group = individualistic when the average person in a society is disposed toward individual independence

Answer 7

Sense of independence --individualistic societies - norm for each person to see themselves as independent of the surrounding group of people Desire to stand out relative to others - Need for Uniqueness ---people follow their own motives and preferences instead of adjusting their desires to accommodate those of the group --individualistic person thus sets personal goals that may not match those of the groups to which they belong ---Have to be moderately similar to others ---Uniqueness attributes affect social acceptability ---Attractiveness of scarce commodities Use of the self/indivdual as the unit of analysis in thinking about life ----explanations of events are likely to involve the person rather than the group. ---the various definitions of individualism draw upon worldviews in which personal factors are emphasized over social forces

Answer 8

individualistic person pursues what is enjoyable to him or her, in contrast to collectivistic people, who derive their pleasures from things that promote the welfare of the group. people in individualistic societies often are somewhat informal in their interactions with others, whereas people in collectivistic societies are more formal in their interactions, as they attend to the expected and important norms that determine such behaviors tend to be rather short term in their thinking, whereas collectivists are more long term in their thought patterns. Goals are for oneself Pursuit of what is enjoyable for oneself Group norm may be followed but only when personally advantageous When to pursue relationships? Short term thinking Informal social interactions

Answer 9

Survival Social bonds Elliot Aronson “social animals” Social psychologists have argued that people prosper when they join together and work toward shared goals Default setting

Answer 10

Average person disposed toward group interdependence Dependence --Draw meaning and existence from being part of an important group of people ---Goes with expectations of the group, concerned with the welfare of the group, and is dependent upon the other members Conformity (Need to fit in) ---Oyserman - assumption that groups bind and mutually obligate individuals ---Inherent social approach in which the movement is toward ingroups and away from outgroups Perception of the group as the fundamental unit of analysis ----reflect close linkages in which people see themselves as part of a larger, more important whole.

Answer 11

Collectivist is defined in terms of the characteristics of the groups to which they belong Pay closer attention to the rules Subjgate personal needs for those of the group Satisfaction stems from the group’s reaching its desired goals and from feeling that one has fulfilled the socially prescribed duties as a member Interchanges between people are characterized by mutual generosity and equity Interpersonal relationships pursued even when there are no obvious benefits to be attained Formal in interactions - monitor social context carefully to form impressions of others and to make decisions Lower need for uniqueness Emphasis on maintaining harmony

Answer 12

People in lower social classes are more likely to be collectivist in their perspectives More collectivist as they grow older

Answer 13

Western fairytales - hero fights alone and takes on dangers singlehandedly - individual independence is valued over needing someone elses assistance ---Transactional if there is helping ---Personal gain despite potential loss to another ---Many stories emphasize seeking personal fortune Eastern - harmony, interdependence, sharing, collaboration Western - independence, personal gain (sometimes despite potential loss), or fortune

Answer 14

Western - individuals look to the future, strengths valued reflect future-oriented thinking Eastern - looking backward and recognizing the wisdom of their elders

Answer 15

Eastern - circular thinking style - yin yang ---Circular and constantly changing nature of the world ---Dark part represents the feminine and passive and the light side represents the masculine and active Easterner - if you achieve happiness, unhappiness is close Aim for balance - strength of endurance Great suffering will be balanced by great happiness Western - happiness has a straight line to the goal - looking carefully for obstacles and finding possible ways around them - strength of hope used to achieve this

Answer 16

“a set of personal attributes which have a common core of meaning”

Answer 17

Western - Aristotle Greeks - happiness = life with no ties to duty and the freedom to pursue individual goals Eastern - confucianism, taoism, buddhism, hinduism Confucian - discussed within the concept of jen - encapsulate all other virtues Taoist - humanity also reflects behaviors that must occur naturally without premeditation Buddha - karuna is woven throughout buddhism as a virtue on the path toward transcendence Nirvana - complete harmony, balance, and equilibrium Harmonious social network - harmony central to happiness Often mistakenly equated with conformity Reflected in the virtue of justice

Answer 18

(1) the difficulties of the recipient must be serious, (2) the recipient’s difficulties cannot be self-inflicted (3) we, as observers, must be able to identify with the recipient’s suffering “unilateral emotion” (Cassell, 2009, p. 394) that is directed outward from oneself Possessing compassion helps the person to succeed in life and is viewed as a major strength within the Eastern tradition may come more naturally to a person from a collectivist culture than to someone from an individualist culture ---compassion is essential for dealing with daily life tasks