rtog ge'i tshig don brgyad
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རྟོག་གེའི་ཚིག་དོན་བརྒྱད
eight categories of dialectical sophistry [RY]
8 categories of dialectical sophistry [tshad ma'i gzhung gi bstan don brgyad de, mngon sum dang, rjes dpag gnyis po re re la yang dag dang ltar snang gnyis su phye ba'i bzhi ni bdag nyid kyis rig pa'am go bar byed pa'i thabs dang, sgrub ngag dang, sun 'byin gnyis po re re la yang dag dang ltar snang gnyis su phye ba'i bzhi ni gzhan gyis rtogs par byed pa'i thabs bcas shes pa'i char gtogs bzhi dang, rjod byed kyi sgra'i char gtogs bzhi ste brgyad do] [IW]
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The eight topics of logicians / the eight topics for those who follow reasoning TBD
(As the definition from the bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo, which appears above, states, these eight categories are drawn from the Buddhist pramana tradition. If we are to understand "sophistry" as "the use of fallacious arguments, esp. with the intention of deceiving (Oxford American Dictionary)," I think I would want to choose something with more a more neutral or positive connotation. Sometimes "rtog ge" is used pejoratively, as in the Mahamudra texts, etc., where discursive analysis, etc., is discouraged; but here it seems clear that there is no slight intended with the use of "rtog ge." At the conclusion of his summary text on tshad ma, the Ninth Karmapa's tutor, rNam rgyal grags pa, praises his own writing by saying, "'di ni sde bdun gzhung gi snying po ste/ rigs pa'i lam mchog 'jug pa'i sbyor ba yin/ rtog ge'i lus brgyad gsal ba'i me long dang/ dgag sgrub yal 'dab 'phel ba'i rtsa ba'ang yin/.")
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My (TBD) translation of the above passage from tshig mdzod chen mo:
The eight topics of logicians: eight topics taught by the texts on valid cognition. They consist of four methods that facilitate one’s own understanding; correct direct perception, seeming direct perception, correct inference, and seeming inference; and four methods that facilitate the understanding of others; correct proof statements, seeming proof statements, correct undermining statements, and seeming undermining statements. These two sets of four can also be presented as the four topics included in consciousness and the four topics included in expressive terms. (The Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary.)