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Step 3 of 6~8 min read~30 min left
The Apoha Doctrine
Explore Dignāga's radical theory of how words mean.
“A word indicates an object merely through the exclusion of other objects (anyapoha, -vyavṛtti). For example, the word 'cow' simply means that the object is not a non-cow. As such, a word cannot denote anything real, whether it be an individual (vyakti), a universal (jāti), or any other thing. The apprehension of an object by means of the exclusion of other objects is nothing but an inference. — Dignāga, Pramāṇa-samuccaya, summarized by Hattori Masaaki; developed further in Dharmakīrti, Pramāṇavārttika, c. 7th century CE”