Kathāvatthu

Kathāvatthu (Pāli) (Vietnamese: Bộ Ngữ Tông (Biện Giải); abbreviated Kv, Kvu; transl.

The text contrasts the orthodox Theravada position on a range of issues to the heterodox views of various interlocutors; the latter are not identified in the primary source text, but were speculatively identified with specific schools of thought in the (historically subsequent) commentaries.

[1] Though the core of the text may have begun to take shape during Ashoka's reign, Bhikkhu Sujato notes that "the work as a whole cannot have been composed at that time, for it is the outcome of a long period of elaboration, and discusses many views of schools that did not emerge until long after the time of Aśoka.

[5] The text focuses on refuting the views of various Buddhist schools, these include:[6] The inclusion of the Kathavatthu in the Abhidhamma Pitaka has sometimes been thought of as something of an anomaly.

However, L. S. Cousins, described by Professor Gombrich as the West's leading abhidhamma scholar,[9] says: "In spiritual traditions the world over, instructors have frequently employed apparent contradictions as part of their teaching method – perhaps to induce greater awareness in the pupil or to bring about a deeper and wider view of the subject in hand.