Eastern & western philosophy
karenb  Updated: 2004-10-22 10:09

Western philosophy as we know it today is based on two primary sources -- Judeo-Christian thinking (or, as you mentioned, the Bible) and the Greek and Roman philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle, who were also proponents of science. It could be said that Biblical writers such as Paul borrowed from Greek/Roman thinking in his method of arguments and reasoning.

Both of these traditions later shaped the thinking of famous enlightenment thinkers/philosophers such as Isaac Newton (developer of Calculus and Law of Universal Gravitation) and Francis Bacon ("inductive" method of scientific inquiry) -- both of these men were strong Christians, but also scientific, and their philosophy reflected this.

Other famous philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were agnostics (not sure about God) and materialists (can only know what you see and experience), yet they borrowed from both the classics of Greece and Rome as well as the Bible to formulate their ideas of personal rights (freedom of speech, freedom to own personal property, etc.) and their philosophy of government (lated adopted by the American revolutionaries).

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As mentioned, Chinese philosophy seems to be based on the teachings of Confucius and Taoism, and Confucius based his teaching on the Book of Songs which was a collection of poems.

From what I've read in all three of these Chinese sources, the philosophy seems to deal with several areas -- family relationships, the relationship between government and the people, the proper mentality of the government leader, and how to be a good person. Basically the philosophy is mostly dealing with morality, relationships, and government.

Now there isn't a lot in these Chinese classics that could be characterized as "scientific," but there's nothing in them that would necessarily preclude scientific thinking either. Confucius said that the one who can "rejuvenate" the teaching of the old is worthy to be a teacher. In other words, one can apply the old philosophy to modern life -- sort of use it as a springboard for new innovations, if you will.

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Is there any relationships between the Chinese philosophical classics and the Bible? Well, probably not in the over-all general message (even Confucius and Laozi were conflicting in this regard), but in certain parts.

For instance, both the Bible and Confucius taught respect and honor of parents as being crucial to morality. Confucius taught that no man is truly good, as does the Bible. Laozi (Tao Te Ching -- Taoism) taught the concept of an initial Creator ("It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang), infinity ("Heaven is eternal, the Earth everlasting"), and eternal life of the spirit after death ("Tao is forever and he that possesses it, though his body ceases, is not destroyed"). All of these teachings are also important doctrines of the Bible. The Tao Te Ching taught that the true emperor "loves his subjects as one should love one's body." The Bible uses the same analogy for the love of Jesus Christ for the church, and teaches that a man should have this same kind of love for his wife.

The above content represents the view of the author only.

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