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''Catuṣkoṭi'' (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
;
Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...
: चतुष्कोटि, , Sinhalese:චතුස්කෝටිකය) is a logical argument(s) of a 'suite of four discrete functions' or 'an indivisible quaternity' that has multiple applications and has been important in the Dharmic traditions of Indian logic, the Buddhist logico-epistemological traditions, particularly those of the
Madhyamaka Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhis ...
school, and in the skeptical Greek philosophy of
Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of ...
. In particular, the catuṣkoṭi is a "four-cornered" system of argumentation that involves the systematic examination of each of the 4 possibilities of a proposition, ''P'': # ''P''; that is being. # not ''P''; that is not being. # ''P'' and not ''P''; that is being and that is not being. # not (''P'' or not ''P''); that is neither not being nor is that being. These four statements hold the following properties: (1) each alternative is mutually exclusive (that is, one of, but no more than one of, the four statements is true) and (2) that all the alternatives are together exhaustive (that is, at least one of them must necessarily be true). This system of logic not only provides a novel method of classifying propositions into logical alternatives, but also because it does so in such a manner that the alternatives are not dependent on the number of truth-values assumed in the system of logic. To understand it for example if we put
Gödel's incompleteness theorems Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that are concerned with the limits of in formal axiomatic theories. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the phil ...
in Catuskoti format look as follows, Given any consistent formal system F within which a certain amount of elementary arithmetic can be carried out and given the logical statement constructed inside such system can always be: # Proved # Disproved # Proved and Disproved # Neither Proved nor Disproved


History


Nasadiya Sukta

Statements similar to the tetra lemma seems to appear in the nasadiya sukta (famous creation hymn), trying to inquire on the question of creation but was not used as a significant tool of logic before buddhism.


Early Buddhism

Śākyamuni, as remembered by
Ānanda Ānanda (5th4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of the early Buddhist '' Sutta-Piṭ ...
and codified in the '' Brahmajala Sutta'' 2.27, when expounding the sixteenth wrong view, or the fourth wrong view of the 'Eel-Wrigglers' (Pali: amarā-vikheppikā), the non-committal equivocators who adhered to
Ajñana ''Ajñāna'' () was one of the ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of ancient Indian philosophy, and the ancient school of radical Indian skepticism. It was a Śramaṇa movement and a major rival of early Buddhism, Jainism and the Ājīv ...
, the sceptical philosophy, though the grammatical structure is identical to the Catuṣkoṭi (and there are numerous other analogues of this fourfold grammatical structure within this Sutta), the intentionality of the architecture employed by Nagarjuna is not evident, as rendered into English by Walshe (1987, 1995: p. 81):
'What is the fourth way? Here, an ascetic or Brahmin is dull and stupid. Because of his dullness and stupidity, when he is questioned he resorts to evasive statements and wriggles like an eel: "If you ask me whether there is another world. But I don't say so. And I don't say otherwise. And I don't say it is not, and I don't not say it is not." "Is there no other world?..." "Is there both another world and no other world?..."Is there neither another world nor no other world?..." "Are there spontaneously-born beings?..." "Are there not...?" "Both...? "Neither...?" "Does the Tathagata exist after death? Does he not exist after death? Does he both exist and not exist after death? Does he neither exist nor not exist after death?..." "If I thought so, I would say so...I don't say so...I don't say it is not." This is the fourth case.'


Pyrrhonism

McEvilley Thomas McEvilley (; July 13, 1939 – March 2, 2013) was an American art critic, poet, novelist, and scholar. He was a Distinguished Lecturer in Art History at Rice UniversityThomas McEvilley, G. Roger Denson (1996), ''Capacity: : History, th ...
(2002: p. 495) maps an interesting case for mutual iteration and pervasion between
Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of ...
and Madhyamika:
An extraordinary similarity, that has long been noticed, between Pyrrhonism and Mādhyamika is the formula known in connection with Buddhism as the fourfold negation (''catuṣkoṭi'') and which in Pyrrhonic form might be called the fourfold indeterminacy.
In Pyrrhonism the fourfold indeterminacy is used as a maxim for practice. This maxim is also related to the shorter, "nothing more" (ou mallon) maxim used by
Democritus Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...
.


Nagarjuna

The Catuṣkoṭi was employed particularly by
Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
who developed it and engaged it as a 'learning, investigative, meditative' portal to realize the 'openness' (Sanskrit:
Śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā) pronounced in English as (shoon-ya-ta), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meani ...
), of Shakyamuni's
Second Turning The Three Turnings of the Wheel (of Dharma) refers to a framework for understanding the sutra stream of the teachings of the Buddhism originally devised by the Yogachara school. It later became prevalent in modified form in Tibetan Buddhism and re ...
of the Dharmacakra, as categorized by the '' Sandhinirmocana Sutra''. Robinson (1957: p. 294), building on the foundations of Liebenthal (1948) to whom he gives credit, states:
What Nagarjuna wishes to prove is the irrationality of Existence, or the falsehood of reasoning which is built upon the logical principle that A equals A.... Because two answers, assertion and denial, are always possible to a given question, his arguments contain two refutations, one denying the presence, one the absence of the probandum. This double refutation is called the Middle Path. 'emphasis evident in Robinson''ref name="Robinson, Richard H. 1957 p.294">Robinson, Richard H. (1957). 'Some Logical Aspects of Nagarjuna's System'. ''Philosophy East & West''. Volume 6, no. 4 (October 1957). University of Hawaii Press. Source: (accessed: Saturday March 21, 2009), p.294
Śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā) pronounced in English as (shoon-ya-ta), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meani ...
is the ninth ' view' (Sanskrit: dṛṣṭi), the viewless view, a superposition of the eight possible arrays of proposition P nd_its_'inseparable_contradistinction'_(Sanskrit:_ nd_its_'inseparable_contradistinction'_(Sanskrit:_apoha)">apoha.html"_;"title="nd_its_'inseparable_contradistinction'_(Sanskrit:_apoha">nd_its_'inseparable_contradistinction'_(Sanskrit:_apoha) The_eight_arrays_or_octaves_of_the_iconographic__Dharmacakra_represent_View_(Buddhism).html" ;"title="apoha).html" ;"title="apoha.html" ;"title="nd its 'inseparable contradistinction' (Sanskrit: apoha">nd its 'inseparable contradistinction' (Sanskrit: apoha)">apoha.html" ;"title="nd its 'inseparable contradistinction' (Sanskrit: apoha">nd its 'inseparable contradistinction' (Sanskrit: apoha) The eight arrays or octaves of the iconographic Dharmacakra represent View (Buddhism)">drishti or traditional views that Shakyamuni countered. These eight arrays may be Plot (graphics), plotted as coordinates on a multidimensional field which may be rendered as a sphere, a mandala, a multidimensional shunya or zero where shunyata denotes zero-ness. The eight arrays are in a concordant relationship where they each constitute a chord to the sphere. The coordinates are
equidistant A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal. In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is th ...
from the epicentre of shunya where the array of the positive configuration (or hemisphere) and the array of the negative configuration (or hemisphere) constitute two polar radii or diametrical complements, a
diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid f ...
in sum. These are the 'eight limits' (Wylie: mtha' brgyad; Sanskrit: aṣṭānta) of 'openness' (Sanskrit: śūnyatā), where śūnyatā is amplified by 'freedom from constructs' or 'simplicity' (Wylie: spros bral; Sanskrit: aprapañca). Karmay (1988: p. 118) conveys that 'spros bral' is a homologue of 'thig le' (Sanskrit: bindu), where 'spros bral' is literally "without amplification", understood as "that which cannot be displayed". # P is true ``1 P is not true or Not P is true # Not P is true ``2. Not (Not P) is true i.e. P is true # Both P and Not P are true i.e. the universal set `` 3 Neither P nor not P are true i.e. it is a null set # Neither P nor not P are true it is a null set `` 4. Not (neither p nor not P are true ) = both P and not P are true which is the universal set/ Thus, we can see that there are only 4 alternatives available and the negative alternatives are mere rewritten alternatives. In other words, it makes no difference whether you are working with positive configuration or negative configuration. More over, if you replace p with not P, then the positive configuration set for not P will be the same as negative configuration of P. Sanjaya Belatthiputta, a 6th century BCE Indian ascetic whose teachings are similar to that of Nagarjuna are compared to that of a "theory of eel-wrigglers" in the famous Samannaphala Sutta (DN 2). Sanjaya is recorded as saying: :'If you ask me if there exists another world fter death if I thought that there exists another world, would I declare that to you? I don't think so. I don't think in that way. I don't think otherwise. I don't think not. I don't think not not. If you asked me if there isn't another world... both is and isn't... neither is nor isn't... if there are beings who transmigrate... if there aren't... both are and aren't... neither are nor aren't... if the Tathagata exists after death... doesn't... both... neither exists nor exists after death, would I declare that to you? I don't think so. I don't think in that way. I don't think otherwise. I don't think not. I don't think not not.'


Catuṣkoṭi post-Nagarjuna

The Catuṣkoṭi, following Nagarjuna, has had a profound impact upon the development of Buddhist logic and its
dialectic Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
al refinement of Tibetan Buddhism. Robinson (1957: p. 294) qualifies the import of Nagarjuna's work (which includes Nagarjuna's application of the Catuskoti) due to the embedded noise in the scholarly lineage: "Certainly some of Nagarjuna's ancient opponents were just as confused as his modern interpreters...". This noise may also have co-arisen with Nagarjuna, following the work of Jayatilleke (1967).


Modern interpretations

Robinson (1957: p. 294) Robinson, Richard H. (1957). 'Some Logical Aspects of Nagarjuna's System'. ''Philosophy East & West''. Volume 6, no. 4 (October 1957). University of Hawaii Press. Source: (accessed: Saturday March 21, 2009) holds that Stcherbatsky (1927), opened a productive period in
Madhyamaka Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhis ...
studies. Schayer (1933) made a departure into the rules of inference employed by early Buddhist dialecticians and examines the Catuskoti (Tetralemma) as an attribute of
propositional logic Propositional calculus is a branch of logic. It is also called propositional logic, statement logic, sentential calculus, sentential logic, or sometimes zeroth-order logic. It deals with propositions (which can be true or false) and relations b ...
and critiques Stcherbatsky. Robinson (1957: p. 294) states that "Schayers criticisms of Stcherbatsky are incisive and just." Murti (1955) makes no mention of the logical contribution of Schayer. According to Robinson (1957: p. 294), Murti furthered the work of Stcherbatsky amongst others, and brought what Robinson terms "the metaphysical phase of investigation" to its apogee though qualifies this with: "Murti has a lot to say about 'dialectic,' but practically nothing to say about formal logic." Robinson (1957: p. 294) opines that Nakamura (1954), developed Schayer's methodology and defended and progressed its application. Robinson (1957: p. 293) opines that the 'metaphysical approach' evident foremost in Murti (1955) was not founded in a firm understanding of the 'logical structure of the system', i.e. catuskoti, for example:
Several fundamental limitations of the metaphysical approach are now apparent. It has tried to find comprehensive answers without knowing the answers to the more restricted questions involved - such questions as those of the epistemological and logical structure of the system.
Robinson (1957: p. 296) conveys his focus and states his methodology, clearly identifying the limitations in scope of this particular publication, which he testifies is principally built upon, though divergent from, the work of Nakamura:
In considering the formal structure of Nagarjuna's argumentation, I exclude epistemology, psychology, and ontology from consideration.... Such extra-logical observations as emerge will be confined to the concluding paragraphs...


Exegesis

Puhakka (2003: p. 134-145) charts the stylized reification process of a human sentient being, the spell of reality, a spell dispelled by the Catuṣkoṭi:
We are typically not aware of ourselves as taking something (P) as real. Rather, its reality "takes us," or already has us in its spell as soon as we become aware of its identity (P). Furthermore, it's impossible to take something (P) to be real without, at least momentarily, ignoring or denying that which it is not (not-P). Thus the act of taking something as real necessarily involves some degree of unconsciousness or lack of awareness. This is true even in the simple act of perception when we see a figure that we become aware of as "something." As the German gestalt psychologists demonstrated, for each figure perceived, there is a background of which we remain relatively unaware. We can extend this to texts or spoken communications. For every text we understand there is a context we are not fully cognizant of. Thus, with every figure noticed or reality affirmed, there is, inevitably, unawareness. Is this how a spell works? It takes us unawares.


Catuṣkoṭi paradox: a simple complex

Wayman (1977) proffers that the Catuṣkoṭi may be employed in different ways and often these are not clearly stated in discussion nor the tradition. Wayman (1977) holds that the Catuṣkoṭi may be applied in suite, that is all are applicable to a given topic forming a
paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
ical matrix; or they may be applied like trains running on tracks (or employing another metaphor, four
mercury switch A mercury switch is an electrical switch that opens and closes a circuit when a small amount of the liquid metal mercury connects metal electrodes to close the circuit. There are several different basic designs (tilt, displacement, radial, etc ...
es where only certain functions or switches are employed at particular times). This difference in particular establishes a distinction with the Greek tradition of the Tetralemma. Also, predicate logic has been applied to the Dharmic Tradition, and though this in some quarters has established interesting correlates and extension of the logico-mathematical traditions of the Greeks, it has also obscured the logico-grammatical traditions of the Dharmic Traditions of Catuṣkoṭi within modern English discourse.


Four Extremes

The 'Four Extremes' (; Sanskrit: caturanta; Devanagari: चतुरन्त) Dorje, Jikdrel Yeshe ( Dudjom Rinpoche, author), & translated and edited:
Gyurme Dorje Gyurme Dorje (1950 – 5 February 2020) was a Scottish Tibetologist and writer. Early life In Edinburgh he studied classics at George Watson's College and developed an early interest in Buddhist philosophy. He held a PhD in Tibetan Literatur ...
and
Matthew Kapstein Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...
(1991). ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History''. Boston, USA: Wisdom Publications. , p.129 Enumerations.
is a particular application of the Catuṣkoṭi: *Being (Wylie: yod) *Non-being (Wylie: med) *Both being and non-being (Wylie: yod-med) *Neither being nor non-being (Wylie: yod-med min) Dumoulin ''et al.'' (1988, 2005: pp. 43–44), in the initially groundbreaking work on Zen which is now for the most part dated due to progress in scholarship (though still useful as the premier English work of comprehensive overview), model a particular formulation of the Catuṣkoṭi that approaches the Caturanta engaging the Buddhist technical term ' dharmas' and attribute the model to
Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
:
If we focus on the doctrinal agreement that exists between the Wisdom Sūtras and the tracts of the Mādhyamika we note that both schools characteristically practice a didactic negation. By setting up a series of self-contradictory oppositions, Nāgārjuna disproves all conceivable statements, which can be reduced to these four: :All things (''dharmas'') exist: affirmation of being, negation of nonbeing :All things (''dharmas'') do not exist: affirmation of nonbeing, negation of being :All things (''dharmas'') both exist and do not exist: both affirmation and negation :All things (''dharmas'') neither exist nor do not exist: neither affirmation nor negation With the aid of these four alternatives (''catuṣkoṭika'': affirmation, negation, double affirmation, double negation), Nāgārjuna rejects all firm standpoints and traces a middle path between being and nonbeing. Most likely the eight negations, arranged in couplets in Chinese, can be traced back to Nāgārjuna: neither destruction nor production, neither annihilation nor permanence, neither unity nor difference, neither coming nor going.


Alternate Four Limits/Four Extremes

A Mantrayana enumeration of the Four Limits or the Four Extremes within the Buddhadharma is also common. These four 'limits' are evident in the earliest sutras of the Theravadin of the First Turning, through the Second Turning philosophy of Nagarjuna and his disciples and commentators and also evident in the Third Turning as evidenced in the presentation of Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava in his 'Secret Instruction in a Garland of Vision' lists them as follows with the English rendering following Dowman (2003) and Wylie following Norbu ''et al.'' (2001): *the 'Hedonist' or 'Chalpas' : does not perceive, ascribe to the view or realize that all events, dharmas, etc. have a cause and an effect; *the 'Atheist' or 'Gyangphenpas' : unable to see or perceive past and future lives, the atheist toils for wealth and power in this lifetime alone. They engage in intrigue; *the 'Nihilist' or 'Murthugpas' : holds that there is no causality or causal relationship between events and dharmas. They are of the view that everything is adventitiously arisen due to chance and events and that dharmas dissipate and vanish into the void. Death is the ultimate cessation and there is no continuity between lives; and *the 'Eternalist' or 'Mutegpas' : holds to the view of an eternal, unchanging '
atman Atman or Ātman may refer to: Film * ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto * ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo People * Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...
', where atman is often rendered as 'soul' in English. There is considerable diversity of the mechanics of causality with proponents of this view. Some perceive the atman as having a cause but not effect, an effect but no cause, or indeed a complex causality or causal relationship.


Lexicon: technical language and terminology

Within English Buddhist logico-epistemological discourse, there is and has been historically, much obstruction to an understanding of the Caturanta (as the Catuṣkoṭi) due to inherent negligence in terminology not being clearly defined from the outset. That said, acquisition of terminology must be engaged and actualized though the sadhana of the ' mūla prajñā', as definitions are slippery and challenging to pinpoint that hold for all contexts. Language usage in Buddhist logic is not intuitive but technical and must be learnt, acquired through the ''
perfection Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence. The term is used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts. These have historically been addressed in a number of discrete disciplines, ...
'' and '' power'' of 'diligence' (Sanskrit:
vīrya Vīrya (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''viriya'') is a Buddhist term commonly translated as "energy", "diligence", "enthusiasm", or "effort". It can be defined as an attitude of gladly engaging in wholesome activities, and it functions to cause one to ac ...
). The following quotations are cited to provide insight (''
in lieu Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engl ...
'' of technical definitions) into the understanding of the technical Buddhist terms 'existence', 'nature', 'being', 'entity' and 'svabhava' which are all mutually qualifying. Robinson (1957: p. 297) renders ''
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā The ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' ( sa, मूलमध्यमककारिका, ''Root Verses on the Middle Way''), abbreviated as ''MMK'', is the foundational text of the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy. It was compo ...
'' 21.14, thus:
"He who posits an entity becomes entangled in eternalism and annihilism,
since that entity has to be either permanent or impermanent."
Robinson (1957: p. 300) in discussing the Buddhist logic of
Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
, frames a view of '
svabhava Svabhava ( sa, स्वभाव, svabhāva; pi, सभाव, sabhāva; ; ) literally means "own-being" or "own-becoming". It is the intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence of beings. The concept and term ''svabhāva'' are frequently enco ...
':
Svabhava is by defini on the subject of contradictory ascriptions. If it exists, it must belong to an existent entity, which means that it must be conditioned, dependent on other entities, and possessed of causes. But a svabhava is by definition unconditioned, not dependent on other entities, and not caused. Thus the existence of a svabhava is impossible. 'NB: typographical errors repaired''Robinson, Richard H. (1957). 'Some Logical Aspects of Nagarjuna's System'. ''Philosophy East & West''. Volume 6, no. 4 (October 1957). University of Hawaii Press. Source: (accessed: Saturday March 21, 2009), p.300
"Nature" (a gloss of prakrti which in this context equals svabhava) does not entail an alter-entity:
The term "nature" (prakrti equals svabhava) has no complement..."If (anythings) existence is due to its nature, its non-existence will not occur, since the alter-entity (complement) of a nature never occurs." (''
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā The ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' ( sa, मूलमध्यमककारिका, ''Root Verses on the Middle Way''), abbreviated as ''MMK'', is the foundational text of the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy. It was compo ...
'', 15.8)

That is, a nature is the class of properties attributed to a class of terms Since they are necessarily present throughout the range of the subject or class of subjects, cases of their absence do not occur.
Y Karunadasa Yakupitiyage Karunadasa is a Sri Lankan scholar in Buddhist Studies. His main areas of specialization are Early Buddhism and Theravada Abidhamma. Education and career Y. Karunadasa obtained a First Class Bachelor of Arts degree from the Universi ...
(1999, 2000: p. 1) holds that Early Buddhism and early Buddhist discourse "often refer to the mutual opposition between two views": *'permanence' or 'eternalism' (Pali: '' sassatavada'') also sometimes referred to as 'the belief in being' (Pali: ''bhava-ditti''); and *'annihilation' or '
nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by I ...
' (Pali: ''ucchadevada'') also sometimes referred to as 'the belief in non-being' (Pali: ''vibhava-ditti'').
Y Karunadasa Yakupitiyage Karunadasa is a Sri Lankan scholar in Buddhist Studies. His main areas of specialization are Early Buddhism and Theravada Abidhamma. Education and career Y. Karunadasa obtained a First Class Bachelor of Arts degree from the Universi ...
(1999, 2000). "The Buddhist Critique of Sassatavada and Ucchedavada: The Key to a proper Understanding of the Origin and the Doctrines of early Buddhism." from:
Y Karunadasa Yakupitiyage Karunadasa is a Sri Lankan scholar in Buddhist Studies. His main areas of specialization are Early Buddhism and Theravada Abidhamma. Education and career Y. Karunadasa obtained a First Class Bachelor of Arts degree from the Universi ...
(1999, 2000). ''The Middle Way'', UK, vol. 74 & 75.
As Shakyamuni relates in a 'thread' (Sanskrit: ''
sūtra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...
'') of discourse to Kaccānagotta in the ''
Kaccānagotta Sutta The ''Kaccānagotta Sutta'' is a short, but influential Buddhist text in the Pali Canon (''Saṃyutta Nikāya'' 12.15). A Sanskrit and Chinese (''Saṃyuktāgama'' 301; also a partial quotation in SĀ 262) parallel text is also extant. Although the ...
'', rendered into English by Myanmar Piṭaka Association Editorial Committee (1993: p. 35):
"For the most part, Kaccāna, sentient beings depend on two kinds of belief - belief that 'there is' (things exist) and belief that 'there is not' (things do not exist).Myanmar Piṭaka Association Editorial Committee (1993). ''Nidāna Saṃyutta: Group of Related Discourses on Causal Factors from Nidānavagga Saṃyutta: Division Containing Groups of Discourses on Causal Factors''. Shakti Nagar, Delhi, India: Sri Satguru Publications. . p.35
Y Karunadasa Yakupitiyage Karunadasa is a Sri Lankan scholar in Buddhist Studies. His main areas of specialization are Early Buddhism and Theravada Abidhamma. Education and career Y. Karunadasa obtained a First Class Bachelor of Arts degree from the Universi ...
(1999, 2000: p. 1) states that:
...it is within the framework of the Buddhist critique of ''sassatavada'' and ''ucchadavada'' that the Buddhist doctrines seem to assume their significance. For it is through the demolition of these two world-views that Buddhism seeks to construct its own world-view. The conclusion is that it was as a critical response to the mutual opposition between these two views that Buddhism emerged as a new faith amidst many other faiths.


See also

* Tetralemma * Dialetheism *
Paraconsistent logic A paraconsistent logic is an attempt at a logical system to deal with contradictions in a discriminating way. Alternatively, paraconsistent logic is the subfield of logic that is concerned with studying and developing "inconsistency-tolerant" syst ...
* Prasangika * Two-truths doctrine


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Catuskoti Buddhist logic History of logic Indian philosophy * Paradoxes Pyrrhonism