Mulamadhyamakakarika
Nagarjuna · 150 CE
Excerpt
“Nothing whatsoever is differentiated from anything else by its own intrinsic nature. (paraphrase of 15.1)”
Why the atlas keeps it
The foundational Madhyamaka text, arguing that no phenomenon has independent existence and that apparent essence arises from dependent origination. Read as epistemology rather than metaphysics it is a theory about why nothing is self-sufficient — including, later, why no component of a system can be trusted in isolation from what it depends on. The excerpt below paraphrases the chapter rather than quoting a translation.
Terms this text reaches for
Ranked by the codex search index against the summary above, not hand-picked.
Dependent origination
philosophyEverything arises in dependence on conditions, so nothing exists independently.
No-self
philosophyThe Buddhist analysis denying that a person has a fixed, independent essence.
Interpretability
alignmentThe effort to make what a model represents and computes legible to people.
Existentialism
philosophyThe view that existence precedes essence and that nobody is exempt from responsibility.
Personal identity
philosophyWhat makes a person at one time the same person at another.
Arms race dynamics
governanceThe pattern in which each party's precautions are read by the other as a threat.