Introduction
Eastern influences are vested mostly on the religion and ideologies of the people in eastern European countries. They are vested in religion which is closely associated with their life. They are based on philosophies that so much influence the life of the people in these regions. This paper will explore different influences in this region.
Taoism philosophies are believed to have been derived from Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Taoism took the teaching of Greek Philosophers like Socrat who believed that a human being is not well informed to know all. It advanced that a person holding great wisdom can find sometimes that they know nothing. Hence it advanced for wisdom in leadership. Comparing this to another influence like Confucian which was fond by Confucius, and which dominated the life of Chinese people did not address the need for wisdom in order to rule. Taoism saw Confucianism as giving solutions that were not based on wisdom. Compared to Confucianism, Taoism was more insightful and judgments.
Main body
Confucianism believed that a person can improve on his life by carefully studying what otherwise people do. It believed that education was necessary for a person to learn more. It believed that education for young people was necessary to improve their life. Confucianism advocated for social responsibility and that is why it has influenced the people of china for a long time. It is believed that one should help others if they want to be helped themselves. It also advocated that by advancing oneself, a person is also helping in advancing others. On the other hand, Taoism doesn’t believe in self-advancement. It advocated that a person cannot be improving himself.
Here I find Confucians more influential to human life since it has a firm belief in the education of a person. Many societies that have advanced have done so through education. They believe in social responsibility is also important since human beings are social in nature. The concept of social responsibility is being advocated even to date through corporate social responsibility. It is thought that if the world had social responsibility in practice many of the problems that we see in the world today would be history. (More and Bruder, 2005)
Taoism was more leaned towards the attainment of power and its retention. It advocated that one can only improve oneself and others when one has power. There are philosophies mostly applied by the rules to this region. They took power and stayed with it. It advocated that to change the world one must have power while on the other hand, Confucians believed that one can change the world through education.
Another eastern influence is Shintoism which was so much embodied in the life and religion of the people of Eastern Europe especially in Japan. Generally, Shintoism was not more concerned with power or human advancement but it was a religious influence of the people. It advocated for firm tradition values, observation of ritual values, and integrant of religious values into people’s life. Compared to Taoism and Confucianism, Shintoism was based more on the moral conduct of people and their commitment to moral values than on leadership values or human growth. (Sharon, 2002)
Conclusion
The three influences greatly determined the life of people in Eastern Europol. They have developed to be major religions with many followers these days and have in a way influenced western life. Confucianism is particularly important since it seems to integrate with western influences of the advancement of human life through education. On the other hand, Taoism and Shintoism have remained as religious movements for these people with little influence on the outside world.
Reference
Moore, B. and Bruder, K. (2005). Philosophy: The Power of Ideas. Boston: McGraw Press.
Sharon, S. (2002). A Comparative Sociology of World Religions. New York: NYU Press.