Honors Theses

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Completion

4-2024

Academic Year

2023-2024

Department

Interdisciplinary

Academic Major

Interdisciplinary Studies

Second Academic Major

Theological Studies

Faculty Advisor

Russell Keck, Ph.D.

Abstract

Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura and Hui-neng’s Platform Sutra have never been compared in a scholarly context; as such, this paper builds a new bridge between Western and Eastern philosophical literature, examining language, narrative, ethics, teleology, theology, and departures from orthodox philosophies in order to synthesize a clear and complete view of the two works in dialogue. De Rerum Natura, or On the Nature of Things, is a first-century BC epic poem composed in Latin by Titus Lucretius Carus which explains Epicurean philosophy in great detail through verse. The Platform Sutra is an eighth-century AD Chinese Zen (Ch’an) Buddhist sermon, delivered orally by Hui-neng and compiled by his disciple Fa-hai. This paper examines linguistic devices and different theories and uses of metaphor in the two works that enable an expansion of reference in pursuit of a shared perlocutionary goal: conversion of the audience. An analysis of roles that one might assume in relation to the philosophies outlined in the two works functions as a means by which delusion may be dispelled and rival philosophies confuted. With a clear vision of nature enabled by expanded metaphorical reference, the Epicurean and the Buddhist actively apply their respective philosophies by seeing nature, that is, observing the movements of atoms in the physical world and meditating on the inherent buddha nature of sentient beings. The flow of atoms and dharmas teleologically defines a standard for the life well-lived that is rooted in theology/divinology. These linguistic, literary, and philosophical components come together to form a mechanism that I call the conversion machine: a structure that governs the goals and functions of unorthodox philosophical systems such as Southern School Ch’an and Roman Epicureanism and that gives an account of human life in relation to nature. This paper examines De Rerum Natura and the Platform Sutra as narratives and as complete stories of the human experience, enabling novel interpretations of Lucretius’ and Hui-neng’s teachings that dialogue with existing literature. I deal extensively with poetic analysis of key sections in both works and present original translations of Latin excerpts from De Rerum Natura informed by Latin renderings of ethical concepts in the Classical and Medieval eras.

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