Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge c8.95

c8.95

(182) Another fact to be noted in the account given of Sañjaya's philosophy is that the propositions are arranged in a four-fold order of expression and the logical alternatives are not confined to simple assertions and denials. For instance, we find not only the expressions 'there is (atthi) a next world' and 'there is no (natthi) next world' but also the forms 'there is and is not (atthi ca natthi ca) a next world' and 'there neither is nor is there no (n'ev'atthi na n'atthi) next world'. This four-fold mode of expression, as we have shown later (*v. infra*, 581) appears to have been adopted in the Pāli Nikāyas alongside the usual two-fold mode. Keith gives the credit to Sañjaya for initiating this new four-fold logic: 'he seems as an agnostic to have been the first to formulate the four possibilities of existence, non-existence, both and neither ...'⁴