This thesis aims at developing a theory which is able to clarify the meanings of Broad Sense Catuskoti and Nagarjuna's Catuskoti in Chinese Buddhism. This theory is called the Theory of Broad Sense Catuskoti.

Broad Sense Catuskoti refers to the sentences in Buddhist texts which express the following four kinds of positions: (i) in a sense affirms P; (ii) in a sense affirms Q; (iii) in a sense affirms P, and in the same/different sense affirms Q; (iv) in a sense negates P, and in the same/different sense negates Q (while P and Q are seemingly conflicting with each other.)

The groundwork of the Theory of Broad Sense Catuskoti are the Two Truths and the Four Siddhanta (四悉檀). Chapter One and Chapter Five are the introduction and the conclusion of this research respectively. In Chapt...[ Read more ]

This thesis aims at developing a theory which is able to clarify the meanings of Broad Sense Catuskoti and Nagarjuna's Catuskoti in Chinese Buddhism. This theory is called the Theory of Broad Sense Catuskoti.

Broad Sense Catuskoti refers to the sentences in Buddhist texts which express the following four kinds of positions: (i) in a sense affirms P; (ii) in a sense affirms Q; (iii) in a sense affirms P, and in the same/different sense affirms Q; (iv) in a sense negates P, and in the same/different sense negates Q (while P and Q are seemingly conflicting with each other.)

The groundwork of the Theory of Broad Sense Catuskoti are the Two Truths and the Four Siddhanta (四悉檀). Chapter One and Chapter Five are the introduction and the conclusion of this research respectively. In Chapter Two, the meanings of the Two Truths and the Middle Way will be clarified. The focal points of this chapter are the explanation of the Middle Way by The school of Early Madhyamika and the Method of the One Form (一相法門) in Sarvadharmāpravṛttinirdeśa (《諸法無行經》). In Chapter Three, the concept of the Four Siddhanta and six interpretations of the Broad Sense Catuskoti will be introduced. The Method of the One Form is the foundation of the two interpretations of the third sentence in Broad Sense Catuskoti, while Early Madhyamika’s explanation of the Middle Way is the foundation of the four interpretations of the fourth sentence in Broad Sense Catuskoti. In Chapter four, different theories of the interpretations of Nagarjuna's Catuskoti developed by different scholars will be discussed and evaluated.

The Theory of Broad Sense Catuskoti emphasizes the importance of context. Based on the Four Siddhanta, we must always take relevant context into consideration so that a suitable way of interpretation will be chosen in order to explain a specific instance of the Broad Sense Catuskoti.