This paper aims to analyze Hume's four essays on happiness in Essays Morals, Political, and Literary. The titles of these four essays are named after the ancient philosophical schools, 'The Epicurean', 'The Stoic', 'The Platonist', and 'The Sceptic'. They focus on the condition of human happiness. This paper considers the relationship between Hume and ancient Hellenistic philosophy through the analysis of these essays.

First, as a background, in the eighteenth-century British intellectual milieu, philosophers were apt to call their positions or those of their opponents by the name of ancient Hellenistic schools. In this context, Hume tends to show his antipathy to the Stoic school, and so he is generally thought to be an Epicurean, while his ancestor and rival Francis Hutcheson brought a kind of 'Christian Stoicism' into fashion. This paper treats the problem whether Hume spoke for Epicureanism when analyzing Hume's essays named after ancient Hellenistic schools.

The composition of four essays on happiness takes a form of the first-person monologue in personification. Hume recommends readers to read them together, and so these essays can be read as a sort of dialogue among personified speakers.

So far, it seemed to be thought that Hume speaks for the Sceptic because this essay is longest and has a different way of speaking than the other three essays. However, Hume presents the way of tranquilization of our passions in our reading texts by placing opposite characters in proper contrast. Followed this way, Hume's four essays should be read in a dialogic way, in other words, the exercise of contrasting these opposite characters from a comprehensive viewpoint.

As an example, Matthew Walker tried to reconcile the Stoic and the Sceptic by his exact reading of Hume's essays. According to him, Hume accepts both views partially, because his 'sceptical' pluralism about the character of the happiest life does not conflict with his advocacy of the supreme happiness of the true philosopher. In the same way, this paper showed that Hume does not completely speak for the Epicurean and tries to reconcile the Epicurean and the Stoic. This is because, although Hume indeed adopts the Epicurean way of explaining the origin of justice and the natural environment surrounding us, he simultaneously admits the holistic character of justice, to which the Stoic subscribes.

This paper examines Ogawa Kunio's (1927-2008) short story titled "Kirigamiroi" (Printed in Blood and Vision, 1979), focusing on the analysis of Christian imagination coming from the depiction of Oki (汚鬼, 'The devil') in the story. "Kirigamiroi" is considered as one of the Ogawa's Bible-based story series. Oki, whose motif attributes to the Devil in the Bible, appears as the main character in the story. The previous studies have pointed out the importance of Oki's role in the series. However, there is even more to be explored regarding the symbolism of Oki. Therefore, by examining how the story speaks to the theological issue, this paper draws theological meanings of the Devil from the depiction of Oki, exploring the role of Oki in the story as well.

The first chapter of this paper summarizes Middleton's approach of examining the theological meanings in fiction. His approach is first to examine fiction in its terms and then determines how novel informs theological issue. Rather than using the conventional method of seeing how novels fit or do not fit into a systematic theology and sorting the characteristics into those issues, this approach enables opening up the theological discussion widely. However, this approach may overlook the elements outside of the text as its analysis heavily draws on Narratology, a study centering on story elements. By referring to Ferretter's Christian literary theory, this paper augments Middleton's approach to determine not only the theological meanings about the Devil from the depiction of Oki but also social and Ogawa's work context in which Oki involved.

Discussing the elements outside of "Kirigamiroi," the second chapter explores the following question: why was Oki the main character since the middle of the Bible-based story series? In comparison to "A Chronicle of Yoreha" (1976-1978) and "A Date Forest" (1984), "Kirigamiroi" can be featured as the first story in which an opposition between people of God and that of who succumbs to Oki becomes obvious. This opposition strengthens an apocalyptic worldview in the series and resonates with social uncertainty in the late 1970s. This paper determines Oki as the character whose role is to make chaos by enticing people into sin, which also implies Ogawa's reflection on the social situation in the late 1970s. Oki embodies these concepts of apocalypticism and social unrest while simulating the role of the Devil in the story "Kirigamiroi".

The third chapter examines how "Kirigamiroi" cautions about the Devil through the depiction of Oki. Resembling the tempt story in the Bible, "Kirigamiroi" shares the common story type's elements and features temper as Oki. Oki tempts 'Paroi' (パロイ, 'Paroi') to kill his brother 'Kirigamiroi' (キリガミロイ, 'Kirigamiroi'), employing smooth tongue, a strategy for tempting Paroi. Oki deceives Paroi by betraying himself falsely, which leads to Paroi being enticed to disregard God and aggravates Paroi's pride towards 'Kirigamiroi.' Through depicting the strategy of Oki in detail, "Kirigamiroi" speaks to the theological issue pertaining to the Devil andbring its masked work to light.

In conclusion, "Kirigamiroi" is the oeuvre which effectively embodies biblical ideas of the Devil into the depiction of Oki and exposes its strategy for tempting human beings. Also, the chaos made by Oki in the story resonate social situation in the 1970s and deepens the apocalyptic worldview. Employing profound Christian imagination, Ogawa's "Kirigamiroi" stimulates theological reflection about the Devil and invites readers to ponder the theological thought on the Devil's work both in fiction and reality.