Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
Tsongkhapa's 1407-08 'Essence of Eloquence' — definitive Gelug treatise distinguishing definitive from interpretable Buddhist teachings
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings (Late-mature) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Cyclical |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Space · Curvature | Undefined |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Non-local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Matter · Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Non-local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Immediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Both |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Impersonal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Revelation |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Energy · Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Reversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
1407-08. Tsongkhapa was 50, in his mature post-Lam Rim (1402) and pre-Ngag Rim (1419) period.
Space
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
Central Tibet — Tsongkhapa was establishing Ganden monastery (1409, the founding monastery of the Gelug order) shortly after the composition.
Matter
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
Single major philosophical treatise (~500 pages in Thurman's English translation, including extensive scholarly apparatus).
Observer
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
Late-mature Tsongkhapa. The observer-philosopher is at the height of his philosophical productivity, articulating the Gelug position that would shape Tibetan philosophical scholarship for six centuries.
Energy
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
Mature Gelug-philosophical synthesising energies. The book combines the Indian Madhyamaka tradition (Candrakīrti especially) with the Tibetan scholastic-philosophical methodology Tsongkhapa was developing.
Information
Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretable and Definitive Meanings
Single substantial Tibetan treatise. The three-part structure (Cittamātra / Svātantrika / Prāsaṅgika) sets out Tsongkhapa's systematic philosophical-hermeneutical position.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Central Gelug philosophical text; shaped six centuries of Tibetan philosophical curriculum. The Gelug school's distinctive philosophical-hermeneutical position (the strong Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka commitment with its specific interpretation of emptiness, conventional truth, and the two-truths doctrine) descends from this treatise; subsequent Tibetan-philosophical scholarship (across all four major schools) engages with it.