5.5 Of Analytic Insight (KV5.5)

Controverted Point: That all knowledge is analytic.

Theravādin: Then you must admit that popular knowledge is analytic—which you deny. For if you assent, then all who have popular, conventional knowledge, have also acquired analytic insight—which you deny. The same argument holds good if “knowledge in discerning the thought of another” be substituted for “popular … knowledge”.

Again, if all knowledge is analytic, then a fortiori all discernment is analytic. Or, if you can assent to that, you must therewith admit that the discernment of one who attains Jhāna by any of the elemental, or colour “artifices”, who attains any of the four more abstract Jhānas, who gives donations, who gives to the Order any of the four necessaries of life, is analytic. But this you deny.

Andhaka: If I am wrong, you admit that there is such a thing as spiritual or supramundane discernment; is that not analytic?

Theravādin: That I do not deny

Andhaka: Then my proposition is true.

The Points of Controversy, an English translation of the Pali Abhidhamma Kathāvatthu. Translated by Shwe Zan Aung and C.A.F. Rhys Davids. First published by Pali Text Society, 1915.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Manfred Wierich and Ven. Vimala and proofread by Josephine Tobin. Some changes were introduced:

Abbreviations, i.e., those of cited works and the participants in the controversies, were expanded.

Cross-references were linked.

Some typographic changes were introduced, among others, i.e.: the phonetic symbol “ŋ” was changed to the Pāli diacritical letter “ṃ”, “ô” to “o”, single quotes to double quotes, and “:—” to “:”.

Letter-spacing with fixed spaces was replaced with bold font.

The corrigenda were merged into the text. Some could not be resolved, though.

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