ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the study of Paramārtha's account of the three categories of being in his Treatise on the Three Categories of Absence-of-being. In modern Buddhist studies, many scholars argue that this Vijñanavada doctrine marks a significant departure from the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness. In connection with the five elements, the doctrine of the three categories of being implies a Vijñānavāda critique of the Hīnayāna analytic conception of the sign. As compared with Maitreyanātha's text, Paramārtha's presentation is marked by a higher degree of clarity. Modern scholars differ widely as to whether the Vijñānavāda categories are compatible with the Madhyamaka system. Anacker argues that the three-fold scheme not only captures Nāgārjuna's doctrine of 'Middle', but articulates this doctrine with greater theoretical clarity. Both the ancient Buddhist philosophers and the modern analytic philosopher considered their separate models as a simplified description of speech situations. They did not pretend that their theories fully captured the complexities of a sign.
