The Definition of the Concept Worldview by Different Theorists, Elements, Features, and Similarities Between Eastern and Western Worldview

One's worldview is the overall perspective from which how they view and interprets the world, it can be either the beliefs about life or the universe. Through explanation of the concept "Worldview", Ishii, Klopf and Cooke (2006) also contrasted features of Eastern and Western worldview. This paper provides definition of the concept worldview by different theorists, discussion of element of worldview, different features of Eastern and Western worldview and gives similarities of Eastern and Western worldview. This paragraph discusses the definitions of the worldview.

Different theorists do not have the same meaning of the worldview. According two anthropologists, Spardley and McCurdy (1989), in Ishi, Klopf and Cooke (2006) worldview means the generally perspective from which how one sees and interprets the world. Paige and Martin (1996), in shii, Klopf and Cooke (2006) defines worldview as the framework from which people view the reality and make sense of life and the world. For example, if a person is given a window glass and being asked what they see behind it one will tell what they see, in other words how a person makes a sense to the world depends upon that person's vison and the interpretive helps people to make sense of understanding the world around them.

However, the interpretive may bring clarity and may mislead reality. Samovar, Porter and Stefani (1998), in Ishii, Kopf and Cooke (2006) worldview is a mental mode of reality, ideas, attitude about the world and life. In addition, people's view of life and world influences what they value and how they live, if people's aims, is to help others, then they will help, but if their aim is to live for their selves, they will follow their aims. The psychologist Furnham (1993), in Ishii, Klopf and Cooke (2006), defines worldview as what people believes in. People's view of God, including the existence of many gods influences people's specific beliefs about the formation of the world and what happens after people die. In this paragraph the writer offers discussion of elements of worldview. Dodd (1987), in Ishi, Klopf and Cooke (2006) came up with the elements of worldview that are differ to the easterners and westerners. Linear and cyclical, easterners believes that immaterial parts of a person are reborn in some objects, for instance if a person come back from death they may come back an animal formation.

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While the westerners believe that a person only live once, life has no spare they do not believe in rise from the grave. Human and nature in west people manipulate and control nature for survival. To illustrate this point, they play God by create and control nature like, humans and animals cloning, but they benetit from it. Even though easterners prefer peace and harmony with nature, they do not vandalize nature, because they have a tendency that nature also has soul. O'Neil (2006), in Ishii, Klopf and Cooke (2006) supplied with two worldviews, which is indigenous and metropolitan worldview. In indigenous worldview people have close relationship with the environment in a way they perceive animals and inanimate objects as "thous" rather than as "its". Although people who have metropolitan worldview oppose those with indigenous worldview, people with metropolitan worldview they do not care much about nature and inanimate objects they even refer to them as "its" rather than "thous". Little humanity sympathy makes them to exploit nature. For instance, they practise deforestation because they are not concern whether the spirit of the trees will be angered, they believe that they are the only ones who have souls.

Psychologists Gilgen and Cho (1979), in Ishii, Klopf and Cooke (2006) gave comparison on east and west worldview. West is anthropocentrism, so nature is considering as being a secondary importance, as a result humans defeated nature and are governing it according to their desire. By contrast, east looks at the universe as an organism, which means all the parts of the cosmos belong to one organic. This paragraph aims to provide differences between easterners and westemers worldviews. Gilgen and Cho (1979), in Ishii, Klopf and cooke (2006) viewed that east believes that mind and body are one, whatever occurs to one affect the others this means that what people think affect the way they feel and how they feel affect how they think. In this case, it the body is unable to relax, mind will also fail to relax. Whilst in west humans are made up of body, mind and soul, this means that anything directly affecting a person in one of these areas, must attack all other areas as well.

East rely on that people die to reborn in continuous cycle of reincarnation, in easterner's next life they face their behaviour which is called "karma". If they succeed in the period of enlightenment one complete oneness with reality. While in west there is no such beliet, they believe that death is final, after death there is nothing. Ishii (1990), in Ishii, Klopf and Cooke (2006) declared that easterners believes in and worship more than one gods, that is called polytheistic, in polytheistic there are gods of water, a mountain gods and a desert gods. Therefore, polytheism creates many gods but missed the one true God. Whereas westerners have confidence in monotheistic, they believe in the existence of only one God who created world and the heavens. Members of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic believes that God's grace desired end. This paragraph continues to give diferences between eastern and western worldview.

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