The syllogism that summarizes Buddhism is as follows:
Premise 1: Evil exists
Premise 2: Evil exists because of desires
Premise 3: In order to get rid of evil, you must get rid of desires
Premise 4: In order to get rid of desires, you must follow the 8 fold path
The contradiction lies in the fact that if desires are evil and they have to be destroyed, isn’t following the 8 fold path not a desire? If you choose to follow something, you have to have the desire to do it which is what Buddhism condemns.
Buddhism revolves around the nature of human suffering and how to deal with it. The Four Noble Truths outline the tenets of the religion
Therefore, if at least one of these four noble “truths” is not actually true, then the entire religion collapses.
Let’s go through each statement and see if we can prove any one to be false.
Let’s start with the first statement: “Life is full of pain and suffering”.
I don’t think anyone can really deny this, since everyone experiences at least some kind of pain and suffering in their life. This is clearly a true statement.
The second statement is: “Human desire causes suffering”
Let’s think about this critically. Yes, many kinds of suffering are linked to desire (poverty and desire for wealth, illness and desire for health, etc.), but that does not imply causation.
Is there a counter-example?
Yes, accidentally touching a hot stove. This would result in considerable pain and suffering, yet there is no desire that caused it.
This is a counter-example, showing that desire isn’t the cause of all pain and suffering. Therefore, the second noble “truth” is actually false.
But what about the desire to not have pain or suffering?
This is circular reasoning. If desire is the cause of pain and suffering, then having a desire to not have pain or suffering, is like having a desire to not have a desire.
Therefore, the statement is still false.
This is already enough to prove the religion is false, but let’s move on to the third statement anyways:
“By putting an end to desire, humans can end suffering”
Just like in the previous statement, any accidental pain (ex: touching a hot stove) is a counter-example to this.
The last statement: “Humans can end desire by following the Eightfold Path”
We actually don’t even need to know what the Eightfold Path is to see a contradiction here. This statement is self-refuting, which means it can be shown to be false just by the statement itself.
Desire is simply wanting something to happen. So if you are told to follow the Eightfold Path, is that not a desire itself?
If desire can only be ended by continuously desiring something (the desire to follow the Eightfold Path), then that means desire can’t be ended.