The tetralemma is a figure that features prominently in the
logic of India.
Definition
It states that with reference to any a logical proposition (or axiom) X, there are four possibilities:
:
(affirmation)
:
(negation)
:
(both)
:
(neither)
Catuskoti
The history of fourfold negation, the
Catuskoti (Sanskrit), is evident in the logico-epistemological tradition of India, given the categorical nomenclature Indian logic in Western discourse. Subsumed within the auspice of Indian logic, '
Buddhist logic
Buddhist logico-epistemology is a term used in Western scholarship to describe Buddhism, Buddhist systems of ' (Epistemology, epistemic tool, valid cognition) and ' (reasoning, logic).
While the term may refer to various Buddhist systems and vi ...
' has been particularly focused in its employment of the fourfold negation, as evidenced by the traditions of
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...
and the
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; ; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the Śūnyatā, emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no Svabhava, ''svabhāva'' d ...
, particularly the school of Madhyamaka given the retroactive nomenclature of
Prasangika by the Tibetan Buddhist logico-epistemological tradition. Though tetralemma was also used as a form inquiry rather than logic in the Nasadiya Sukta of Rigveda (creation hymn) though seems to be rarely used as a tool of logic before Buddhism.
See also
*
Catuṣkoṭi, a similar concept in Indian philosophy
*
De Morgan's laws
In propositional calculus, propositional logic and Boolean algebra, De Morgan's laws, also known as De Morgan's theorem, are a pair of transformation rules that are both Validity (logic), valid rule of inference, rules of inference. They are nam ...
*
Dialetheism
*
Logical connective
In logic, a logical connective (also called a logical operator, sentential connective, or sentential operator) is a logical constant. Connectives can be used to connect logical formulas. For instance in the syntax of propositional logic, the ...
*
Paraconsistent logic
Paraconsistent logic is a type of non-classical logic that allows for the coexistence of contradictory statements without leading to a logical explosion where anything can be proven true. Specifically, paraconsistent logic is the subfield of log ...
*
Prasangika
*
Pyrrhonism
Pyrrhonism is an Ancient Greek school of philosophical skepticism which rejects dogma and advocates the suspension of judgement over the truth of all beliefs. It was founded by Aenesidemus in the first century BCE, and said to have been inspired ...
*
Semiotic square
The semiotic square, also known as the Greimas square, is a tool used in structural analysis of the relationships between semiotic signs through the opposition of concepts, such as feminine-masculine or beautiful-ugly, and of extending the releva ...
*
Two-truths doctrine
References
External links
*
Wiktionary definition of tetralemma
{{Philosophy topics
History of logic
Logic
Lemmas