The four noble truths, the most popular and widely recognized teaching of the Buddha, are used throughout the Pali canon. This is the first comprehensive study of the teaching as it appears in the Tipitaka, the canon of Theravada Buddhism. By first identifying what it means to say that the four noble truths are samm{ditthi or right view, the author traces the teaching through the canon and commentaries in order to identify the patterns that shape its appearance in the Tipitaka. This book argues that the four noble truths are used in two distinct ways throughout the Pali canon: first, as a symbol of the network of the Buddha’s enlightenment; and second, as a propositional doctrine within a larger network of the Buddha’s teachings. Their unique nature rests in their function as a proposition and as a symbol in the Theravada canon.