The Fifth Corner of Four

An Essay on Buddhist Metaphysics and the Catuskoti

Bibliographic Data

ID8096492
AuthorsGraham Priest (0000-0002-0248-1253, corresponding author)
Year2018
Pages208
Publication date2018-10-25
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueThe Fifth Corner of Four (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oso/9780198758716.001.0001
OpenAlexW2906665218
Open LibraryOL27335827M
ISBN9780198758716
LanguageEN
Citations received19

Graham Priest presents an exploration of Buddhist metaphysics, drawing on texts which include those of Nāgārjuna and Dōgen. The development of Buddhist metaphysics is viewed through the lens of the catuṣkoṭi At its simplest, and as it appears in the earliest texts, this is a logical/ metaphysical principle which says that every claim is true, false, both, or neither; but the principle itself evolves, assuming new forms, as the metaphysics develops. An important step in the evolution incorporates ineffability. Such things make no sense from the perspective of a logic which endorses the principles of excluded middle and non-contradiction, which are standard fare in Western logic. However, the book shows how one can make sense of them by applying the techniques of contemporary non-classical logic, such as those of First Degree Entailment, and Plurivalent Logic. An important issue that emerges as the book develops is the notion of non-duality and its transcendence. This allows many of the threads of the book to be drawn together at its end. All matters are explained, in as far as possible, in a way that is accessible to those with no knowledge of Buddhist philosophy or contemporary non-classical logic

Buddhism · Buddhist philosophy · Epistemology · Metaphysics · Theology · African history and culture analysis · African Studies and Ethnography · Philosophy