Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Philosophy and Culture

Author: Feng Bo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: The structure of this book is as follows: First, it defines general philosophical and cultural concepts, as the understanding and interpretation of these two concepts often involve numerous ambiguities in academia and people's daily thought consciousness. Defining them helps clarify the concepts, and more importantly: only on this basis can a comparison of Chinese and Western philosophy and culture be carried out. The second chapter of this book reviews the history and development of the comparison and research of Chinese and Western cultures, summarizing and synthesizing the characteristics and roles of each period. It also combines history and theory to introduce and evaluate various viewpoints that emerged in the history of the comparison and research of Chinese and Western cultures, such as Sinicization of Western learning and wholesale Westernization. At the end of this chapter, the significance of the research on the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures is elaborated, arguing that: the research on the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures is an inevitable requirement of globalization, a need to enhance "cultural consciousness," a necessity for cultural construction, and a requirement for establishing a correct cultural attitude. The third chapter of this book provides a basic and general comparison of Chinese and Western cultures. The logical order is as follows: first, it establishes several theoretical premises for the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures, then describes some superficial differences between them, and finally discusses several fundamental differences—differences in attitudes toward nature and values; differences in views on human nature; differences in the positioning of individuals; differences in attitudes toward ethnic relations; and differences in the positioning of individuals, etc. At the end of this chapter, it discusses the value of the fundamental differences between Chinese and Western cultures for social and individual understanding. The fourth chapter provides a comprehensive comparison of Chinese and Western philosophy. The specific method adopted is: to introduce the overall development process of the history of Chinese philosophy and the history of Western philosophy.