从中西方文化差异探讨大学英语教学中的文化教育(3)
Another aspect is about the understanding of humanism. The Chinese understanding of humanism is to fight for man, for his free harmonious development, and against everything that warps his life. Each person has his best chance to harmoniously develop all his talents and abilities. Chinese morality reaches the highest humanistic standard for it asserts truly humane relations among people; relations resting on assistance, cooperation, friendliness, honesty and modesty. The specific feature of humanism is universal. It demands that all people be treated with respect and love and be given the necessary assistance proceeding from the assumption that each inpidual has an equal right to happiness.
The next aspect is collectivism(集体主义). Collectivism indicates a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups, and expect their in-group to look after them, and in exchange for that they believe they owe absolute loyalty to the group. In-group includes one’s immediate family, one’s extensive family, one’s relatives, one’s friends, one’s acquaintances, one’s clans and organizations. And the out-group refers to people who are basically strangers, who only have business relationships, and who are not close. In collectivist cultures people tend to depend on their in-groups, and they tend to regard out-groups as aliens. Chinese morality is collectivist morality. It is incompatible with egoism and greed, and harmoniously blends national collective and private interests. It emerges wherever the development of an inpidual is not rooted in robbing others materially, intellectually or emotionally but is a prerequisite of their human growth.
2.2 Origins of western culture
Inpidualism is neutral in meaning. It’s not derogatory. While in China, inpidualism often is equated with selfishness. Here inpidualism is used as a philosophical concept; it’s used as against collectivism. Inpidualism indicates the extent to which a society is a loosely-knitted social network in which people are supposed to take care only of themselves and their immediate families, In cultures that tend toward inpidualism, an “I” consciousness prevails; competition rather than cooperation is encouraged; personal goals take precedence over group goals; people tend not to be emotionally dependent on organizations and institutions; and every inpidual has the right to his or her private property, thoughts, and opinions. These cultures stress inpidual initiative and achievement, and they value inpidual decision making. According to Hofstede’s findings (2000), the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand tend toward inpidualism. The western society is a highly inpidualistic society. Inpidualism is probably the most basic of all western values. Many western people use the word inpidual freedom. The origin of this value has had a long history. Inpidualism manifests itself in inpidual initiative, independence, inpidual express and privacy. The self for the English people holds the pivotal position. From their literature to their art and their history, the message is the same: inpidual achievement, sovereignty, and freedom are the virtues most glorified and canonized. The result of these and countless other messages is that most western people believe that each person has his or her own separate identity, which should be recognized and reinforced. Closely related to inpidualism is the western value of equality. Western people believe that all people have a right to succeed in life and that the country, through laws and educational opportunities, should ensure that right. Western people see much of life as a race for success. For them, equality means that everyone should have an equal chance to enter the race and win. In other words, equality of opportunity may be thought of as an ethical rule. It helps ensure that the race for success is a fair one and that a person does not win just because he or she was born into a wealthy family, or lose because of race or religion. Competition is the price to be paid for the equality of opportunity. If much of life is seen as a race, then a person must run the race in order to succeed; a person must compete with others. If every person has an equal chance to succeed, then it is every person’s duty to try. Western people match their energy and intelligence against that of others in a competitive contest for success, People who like to compete and are more successful than others are honored by being called winners. The pressure due to competition in the life of western people emerges in childhood and continues until retirement from work. Learning to compete successfully is part of growing up, and competition is encouraged by strong programs of competitive sports provided by the public schools and community groups. In sports and at work, they’re told the importance of “being number one”. Young people are even advised that if they lose, there is something wrong with them.
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