Summary: In the Abhidhamma, puggala refers to the "person" or "individual". It is a central term in both the Puggalapaññatti (which classifies person-types) and the Kathāvatthu (which begins with a major debate on the status of the person). The Abhidhamma system maintains that the "person" is a conceptual designation (designation of persons puggalapannatti) built upon impersonal ultimate realities, rather than an ultimate reality (ultimate realities paramattha dhamma) itself.
Canonical locus
The status of the puggala is the subject of the very first and most extensive debate in the Kathāvatthu.
Kv 1.1 (kv1.1:1.1)
Puggalo upalabbhati saccikaṭṭhaparamatthenāti?
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"Is a person found in the ultimate sense and as an ultimate reality?"
Analysis: The Status of the Person
The Abhidhamma analysis of puggala is the formal technical development of the sutta principle of non-self (anattā). (Kv 1.1)
The Debate in the Kathāvatthu
The opening Puggalakathā of the Kathāvatthu refutes the view that a "person" exists as an independent, ultimate entity. The Theravāda position uses a rigorous dialectical method to show that (Kv 1.1):
- Not found in Ultimate Reality: If the person existed "in the ultimate sense" (saccikaṭṭhaparamatthena), it would have to be an irreducible phenomenon like "heat" or "consciousness." Since it can be further analyzed into aggregates, it is not ultimate.
- Identical vs. Different: The proponent of the person is trapped in a dilemma. If the person is identical to the aggregates, then it is subject to the same arising and ceasing as they are. If it is different from the aggregates, it would have to be perceivable apart from them (which it is not).
- The Indeterminable Relationship: The text refutes the claim that the person is "indeterminable" (avattabba)—neither identical to nor different from the aggregates—by showing that such a category is logically impossible within the Abhidhamma's exhaustive classification system.
Conventional Utility (Puggalapaññatti)
Despite denying the ultimate reality of the person, the Abhidhamma does not abandon person-language. The Puggalapaññatti provides a systematic typology of individuals based on their traits and progress. This ensures that the system can still describe the path to liberation, which necessarily involves "persons" practicing and attaining results at a conventional level of truth. (Pp 8-10)
Significance: The "Empty" Identity
The Abhidhamma proves that what we call a "person" is a convention (sammuti) used to identify a continuous stream of ever-changing physical and mental events (Kv 1.1). This is often illustrated (in commentaries and works like the Milindapañha) through the analogy of a "chariot," which exists only as a name for its combined parts, not as an entity in its own right.
Textual notes
- The debate on the person (Puggalakathā) is the longest in the Kathāvatthu, reflecting the historical importance of the controversy with the "Personalist" (Puggalavāda) schools.
- In the Abhidhamma, "ultimate sense" (paramattha) refers to that which is found through direct, irreducible experience, whereas "person" is a product of mental synthesis.
Related concepts
- designation of persons puggalapannatti
- ultimate realities paramattha dhamma
- aggregates khandha
- non self anatta — the principle that no permanent self exists (pending page)
- paramattha