EAST and WEST: MAN vs. SPIRIT: (Mind-Body Relationship)

By Y.J. Choi

In this deeply insightful comparison of Eastern and Western civilizations, diplomat and distinguished professor Y. J. Choi examines Eastern and Western mind-sets through a fascinating exploration of the way these two world cultures view the essential nature of man. Noting that a society's interpretation of human nature provides the philosophical basis for both its politics and its political economy, Choi refers to works by Spinoza and Xunzi to show that Western civilization, while based on the Judeo-Christian religion and Greco-Roman culture, sidestepped that crucial issue until the late nineteenth century by claiming that the spirit, which is the essence of man, is a separate entity from the body. In contrast, the Eastern view of man as an integrated whole contextualizes the "social animal" within nature, allowing Eastern philosophy, as represented by Confucianism and Taoism, to develop a useful ethics, politics, and political economy devoid of theology-hundreds of years before the West. As Professor Nisbett points out in his book , The Geography of Thought , more than a billion people in the world claim intellectual inheritance from ancient Greece, while more than two billion are the heirs of ancient Chinese traditions of thought-making the understanding of East Asian culture all the more important for today's global citizens.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1512132624
• ISBN13: 9781512132625
• Release Date: September 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 5.0"