Page "Anatta" Paragraph 27

The Buddha criticized two main theories of moral responsibility ; the doctrine that posited an unchanging Self as a subject, which came to be known as " atthikavāda ", and the doctrine that did not do so, and instead denied moral responsibility, which came to be known as " natthikavāda ".

He rejected them both on empirical grounds.

The following interaction of the Buddha pertains to the latter theory: The Buddha was silent to the questions of the paribbajako ( wandering ascetic ) Vacchagotta of “ Is there a self ?” or “ Is there not a self ?”.

When Ananda later asked about his silence, the Buddha said that to affirm or deny the existence of an eternal self would have sided with sectarian theories and have disturbed Vacchagotta even more.

The early Suttas see even Annihilationism, which the Buddha equated with denial of a Self, as tied up with belief in a Self.

It is seen as arising due to conceiving a Self in some sort of relationship to the personality-factors.

It is thus rooted in the ' I am ' attitude ; even the attitude ' I do not exist ' arises from a preoccupation with ' I '.

The Buddha appealed to experience in his refutation of natthikavāda, saying: " To one who sees, with proper understanding, the arising of the things in the world, the belief in nonexistence would not occur.