Philosphy Case

Comparing eastern philosophers and western philosophers is rather interesting. Western philosophies have roots tied to Athens, Rome and Judeo¬ Christianity while Eastern philosophies are tied to Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. After learning more about them I would say there are four major differences:

1. Western Individualism and Eastern Collectivism

2. Fragmentary and Holistic

3. Conflict and Harmony

4. Idealism and Pragmatism

These four major differences led me to the philosophers Hume and Buddha. These two philosophers, in my personal opinion, did the best when it came to supporting their ideas. I think both of them were able to do so by keeping things very simple. These two men were able to simplify things so anyone could understand them. They used common examples to help explain their ideas and beliefs and that made it easier for others to believe in. This is just one way I believe these two were similar.

I do not believe in everything that Hume had to say but I do believe it did a good job supporting his theories. The best example that Hume showed was his dispute about atheist and theist. I will admit that I might be a little bias on this one as I have never been able to explain a true difference between the two. What Hume does is gets each side to simplify their answers to get to the very bottom of what they believe.

The method that Hume uses is something that I use when working with other people that are bothered by something but do not want to speak about it. People are made with many layers, some more than others, and in order to find out what each person is feeling you have to tear away at those layers. Hume does this when getting atheist and theist to dig deep on their beliefs. You could actually relate Hume's method to an attorney that is questioning someone with one question but asked many different ways.

Buddha had a simple approach as well. Again, I did not believe in everything that Buddha had to say but the majority of his answer to the problem of suffering was brilliant and not complex.

We all understand that there is suffering in this world. The suffering is different to each person but we all have it no matter what we might say. To dig deeper, all suffering has specific and identifiable causes. Money tends to be a contributor to suffering. It could be that you do not have enough to support your money or it could be that you have more responsibilities with the more money you have.

No matter what you might be suffering from, suffering can be ended. For those people with no or little money, sure more money would help but there are other ways. You can easily examine what is causing the suffering and establish a plan to ending it whether it might be getting an extra job or cutting out not needed expenses.

The fourth noble truth that Buddha refers to I do not completely agree with but it does involve karma. Although karma is difficult to prove I believe there is a way to at least see how it is possible. When you are having a bad day, think of how easy it is to turn it around. It could be the smell of a home cooked meal as you walk in the door, the smile of your child, the hug from your significant other, or even a cold beer when you get home.

Those were examples of how to turn a