Trans-cultural comparison of Death Philosophy in “Five Bells”

Abstract

The essay compares European, Chinese and Australian cultures of death by the analysis of main characters’ attitudes toward death in an effort to explores Jones’s philosophical thoughts on it. From the aspect of thematology in comparative literature, along with philosophical bases and historical sources about death among different cultures, the findings are that Modern Western death philosophy favors Irrationalism; Chinese death philosophy origins from Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism; as for Australian culture on death, it belongs to Western death philosophy, but its colonial history exerts a profound influence on aboriginal views of death.