Republic of the Philippines

Bicol University
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Legazpi City
Term Paper
Title

Scientific, Nationalistic Thought of the West and

Mysticism of the East

Course No.
Term

:
:

PHDEF 305 Oriental and Western Philosophies

First Semester, Academic Year 2014-15

Graduate Student

Mary Ann Pellarda,

Professor:

DANILO MADRID GERONA, Ph.D.

The mysticism of the east can be described through some excerpts about
their religion such as:
(1) Hinduism (Indian) by S. A. Nigosian
The world, we would all still believe that the world is flat. But because one
man doubted such a traditional view and persisted in proving the validity of his
doubt, he was responsible for a tremendous change in the human concept of the
earth and all the consequences of such a dynamic change. There are many other
examples of progress as the direct result of doubt, but this is not the place to list
them. It is enough to say that many phenomena once explained by reference to

spirits both good and evil, to superstition and to magical power yielded new and
more satisfying interpretations as a result of doubt. Because religious leaders like
Buddha and Jesus doubted the validity of traditional views, they broke through
into new religious dimensions and influenced the lives of millions.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) represents an outstanding figure in
modern India and a famous religious personality who was loved throughout the
world. Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, a small coastal town in Gujarat in
Western India, Gandhi (usually called Gandhiji or Bapu by Indians) was the
son of an important minister of a princely state. Having completed his primary
and secondary education in India, he left for England at the age of nineteen to
study law and soon became a barrister. Gandhi wanted Indians to fight for their
freedom, but he wanted them to achieve their goals in such a way that Briton and
Indian reached new levels of understanding and became better people. To him
achieving the goals were far less important than the way they were achieved. In
a world full of violence and hatred he firmly upheld the principle of non-violence.

2. Buddhism (China) by S. A. Nigosian

Buddhism explores the unknown in order to discover a universal solution
to the problems of mankind. It makes the same claim: to offer a knowledge, or
truth, which is final, complete and real life itself. Like the other major religious, it
has developed profound religious philosophies and has attracted sensitive
thinkers at all times and in all places throughout the world.
The fundamental teaching of Gautama (the Buddha) . . . is
clear and simple and in the closest harmony with modern

ideas. It is beyond all dispute the achievement of one of the

most penetrating intelligences the world has ever known.
H.G.Wells
3. Confucianism (China, Korea and Japan) by Huston Smith
If there is one name with which Chinese culture has been associated it is
Confucius- King Fu-tzu or Kung the Master. Chinese reverently speak of him as
The First Teacher not that there were no teachers before him but because he
stands above them all in rank. No one claims that he shaped Chinese culture
single-handed; he himself expressly depreciated his innovations, preferring to
regard himself simply as a lover of the ancients. This characterization gives him
less than his due; it stands as an excellent example of the modesty and reticence
he advocated. For though Confucius did not author Chinese culture, he remains
its supreme editor. Winnowing the past, underscoring here, playing down or
discarding there, reordering and annotating throughout, he brought his culture to
a focus which has remained remarkably distinct for twenty-five centuries.
(1) Plato, circa 428c 347 BC. Greek philosopher, one of the most
creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy. Plato was born to an
aristocratic family in Athens. His father, Ariston, was believed to have descended
from the early kings of Athens. Perictione, his mother, was distantly related to the
6th- century BC lawmaker Solon. When Plato was a child, his father died, and his
mother married Pyrilampes, who was an associate of the statesman Pericles. As
a young man Plato had political ambitions, but he became disillusioned by the
political leadership in Athens. He eventually became a disciple of Socrates,
accepting his basic philosophy and dialectical style of debate: the pursuit of truth

through questions, answer, and additional questions. Plato witnessed the death
of Socrates at the hands of the Athenian democracy in 399 BC. Perhaps fearing
for his own safety, he left Athens temporarily and traveled to Italy, Sicily, and
Egypt.
(2) Socrates, 469-399 BC, a Greek philosopher and teacher. His noble life
and courageous death, together with his teachings, have made him one of the
most admired figures in history. He believed that human nature leads people to
act correctly and in agreement with knowledge. He felt that evil and wrong
actions arise from ignorance and the failure to investigate why people act as they
do. He devoted himself completely seeking truth and goodness. The
unexamined life is not worth living. No man knowingly does evil. He was a
respected teacher, chiefly interested in helping people become good. The surest
way to attain reliable knowledge was through the practice of disciplined
conversations, a method he called dialectic. Knowledge and virtue were the
same thing. If virtue has to do with it, helping the soul as good as possible, it is
necessary to know what makes the soul good.
(3) John Dewey, 1859-1952, an American and educator. Founder of
pragmatism. Invented semiotics (semiotics- signs its objects interpretation).
He was one of the first philosophers to be influenced by psychology and the
theory of evolution put forward by the British naturalist Charles Darwin. He was
one of the leaders of the movement known as pragmatism. He believe that we
use intelligence as an instrument to cope with a conflict or challenge. His
philosophy is called instrumentalism (all ideas are instruments, therefore, true

ideas are those that work best for attaining human goals). He urged that
philosophy become a tool for dealing with the specific problems of all human
beings rather that with the remote problems of philosophers.
(3) William James, 1842-1910, in William James view, derived from that
of Peirce but with a different emphasis, pragmatism is in the first instance a
theory of meaning. He asked us to imagine a man on a camping trip trying to
catch a glimpse of a squirrel on the opposite side of a tree. The squirrel is
clinging to the trunk, belly against the wood, so that he and the man are directly
facing one another, although the tree itself keeps either from seeing the other. As
the man moves around the tree to try to see the critter, it moves correspondingly,
keeping the tree between them

Reference
2

Doris D. Tulio, Historical, Philosophical and Legal Foundations of

Education (Mandalyong City: Echanis Press, 2008), p157 to p161