I recently (Ishida 2020) pointed out that the famous three-stage theory about the development of the apoha-theory, including the views of the positivist (vidhivādin) and the negativist (pratiṣeḍhavādin), was not definitely explained by Satkari Mookerjee, but it is a modified version due to Yuichi Kajiyama. In the course of this investigation, it turned out to be important to distinguish two points: (1) The process of understanding the negation, i.e., exclusion, and (2) The presence or absence of appearance in conceptual cognition. On the basis of this investigation, I reexamine Śākyabuddhi’s philosophical position in the development of the apoha-theory. I think that Śākyabuddhi should be regarded as a forerunner of the so-called positivist, who, according to Ratnakīrti, insists that the negation is indirectly understood when a positive element is recognized through a word.
