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Catuṣkoṭi

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Catuṣkoṭi (Sanskrit; Devanagari: चतुष्कोटि, , Sinhalese:චතුස්කෝටිකය) refers to logical argument(s) of a 'suite of four discrete functions' or 'an indivisible quaternity' that has multiple applications and has been important in the Indian logic and the Buddhist logico-epistemological traditions, particularly those of the Madhyamaka school.

~19 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Nasadiya Sukta
  • Early Buddhism
  • Pyrrhonism
  • Nagarjuna
  • Catuṣkoṭi post-Nagarjuna
  • Modern interpretations
  • Exegesis
  • Catuṣkoṭi paradox: a simple complex
  • Four Extremes
  • Alternate Four Limits/Four Extremes
  • Lexicon: technical language and terminology
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References

Catuṣkoṭi (Sanskrit; Devanagari: चतुष्कोटि, , Sinhalese:චතුස්කෝටිකය) refers to logical argument(s) of a 'suite of four discrete functions' or 'an indivisible quaternity' that has multiple applications and has been important in the Indian logic and the Buddhist logico-epistemological traditions, particularly those of the Madhyamaka school.

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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Catuṣkoṭi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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