Indian Society for Buddhist Studies

Author(s): Prachya Vidyapeeth
Publisher: Prachya Vidyapeeth

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of symbols (like words and sentences). However, the rules of a logical language are fixed and stagnant. Any attempt to fix the meaning of an ancient philosophical texts by using calculus-based logic may result in distortion/oversimplification of the original meaning. It is because this logic assumes that language operates within fixed and stagnant rules.
As shown by Kuusela (2019), later Wittgenstein's logic of language-games is a revolutionary development in logic that has the power to resolve philosophical problems in a way that is not possible by the calculus-based logics. Language-games are clear, simple and primitive forms of language use that can work as objects of comparison to shed light on the complicated uses of linguistic expressions. Wittgenstein's new logic sees language as dynamic and also as something deeply embedded in our activities and forms of life. No attempt has been made to apply this logic to understand Nāgārjuna's philosophy, more specifically his catuṣkoți.
. I will argue that to really understand Nāgārjuna we need to pay attention to the language-games that have been played by him. For this we need to put his linguistic expressions in the context of his soteriological goal, his life, his culture and time. We need to construct new langauge-games that can throw light on the language use of Nāgārjuna. Unlike most other philosophers, both Wittgenstein and Nāgārjuna practiced a nontheoretical therapeutic philosophy. Mainly because of this, Wittgenstein's logic of language-games is more applicable to Nāgārjuna's ideas than any other tools of logic.
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Paticcasamuppāda— As the Base of Buddhist
Philosophy
Sushma Shree, Nalanda
Paticcasamuppāda, the theory of Dependent Origination is one of the vital aspects of the Buddhist Philosophy. It states that