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The Buddha’s Empirically Testable “Ten Criteria” Challenges the Authenticity of Truth Claims: A Critical Review and Its Potential Applicability to Debunking the Various Post-Truths |
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Author |
Choi, Jay J. (著)
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Choo, B. Hyun (著)
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Source |
Religions
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Volume | v.10 n.12 |
Date | 2019.12 |
Publisher | MDIP |
Publisher Url |
https://www.mdpi.com/
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Location | Basel, Switzerland [巴塞爾, 瑞士] |
Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
Language | 英文=English |
Note | This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhism in Modernity: Thriving or Threatened? |
Keyword | The Buddha’s “Ten Criteria”; Kālāma Sutta; Ehipassiko; empiricism; pragmatism; Four Reliances; Four Assurances; Pascal’s Wager; post-truth |
Abstract | Modern readers who investigate religious theories and practices are exposed to diverse truth claims and worldviews. Such claims are often conflicting and subject the readers to various misconceptions and misguidance. In Buddhism, the Buddha is said to have awakened to the true nature of existence and attained final liberation from suffering, referred to as “enlightenment.” How was he able to convince his disciples of his self-claimed enlightenment? Can his reasoning be applied to modern readers, who are well-educated, but overloaded with the incessant proliferation of digital information? The Buddha, specifically in the Kālāma Sutta, presents empirically testable guidelines, termed the “Ten Criteria,” which were formulated as an integrated interplay of reasoning and morality. This essay examines the Buddha’s strategy, which is empirical and pragmatic in nature and embraces the fundamental principles of modern science. We contend that his proposed methodology is verifiably evocative of a moral discipline, while presenting a pedagogical approach to the teacher–student dynamic. Serving as a reference point, this view may help modern readers in differentiating the right truth from the biased post-truths, which appeal to emotion and personal belief. |
Table of contents | 1. Introduction 2. The Buddha’s “Ten Criteria” as Presented in the Kālāma Sutta: How Valid Is It for Modern Readers? 3. Buddha’s Strategy: The Element of Morality within the Framework of Quantum Mechanics 4. The Buddha’s Four Assurances [Catursukhas]11 Reminiscent of Pascal’s Wager 5. The Ultimate Attestation, the Vīmaṁsaka Sutta through the Eye and the Ear 6. The Pragmatic Empiricist Approach of Early Buddhism through the Eye of the Pāli Buddhist Scholars and Others 7. The Buddha’s Teaching in the Kālāma Sutta from the Perspective of Pragmatic Empiricism 8. The Divergence of the Ten Criteria in the Madhyama Āgama, and the Four Reliances in the Mahāyāna Traditions 9. A Possible Application of the “Ten Criteria” for Debunking the Various Post-Truths 10. Conclusions: “Ehipassiko”—“That Which Invites Everyone to Come and See”
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ISSN | 20771444 (E) |
DOI | 10.3390/rel10120645 |
Hits | 113 |
Created date | 2021.11.15 |
Modified date | 2023.06.19 |

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