Daniel Ruin

I am pursuing a DPhil in Theology and Religion at Mansfield College, University of Oxford. I have previously completed an MA in Greek at the University of Glasgow and an MPhil in Buddhist Studies at the University of Oxford. My project focuses on the French philosopher, comparative religionist, and Islamic studies scholar Henry Corbin (1903-1978). Corbin’s eclectic hermeneutics of comparative religion, synthesising phenomenology and Islamic esoteric exegesis, has drawn recent interest in contemporary religious studies. My project examines Corbin’s engagement with Buddhism, principally attested in an unfinished essay collection on the comparative interpretation of the awakening experience in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The thesis will critically situate Corbin’s engagement with Buddhism in his intellectual milieu through his dialogue and collaboration with Carl Jung and Mircea Eliade. The project further aims to examine the extent to which Corbin’s hermeneutics may generate provocative and unlikely insights into the comparative interpretation of central questions in Indian religious thought, such as the nature of the self and individual soteriology. 

My research is supervised by Dr. Jessica Frazier and is generously co-funded by the Clarendon Fund.