Jan Westerhoff
Biographic Data
| ID | 4336162 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jan Westerhoff |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jan |
| FAMILY NAME | Westerhoff |
| SIGNATURE | WESTERHOFF J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2722-8289 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Idealist Implications of Contemporary Science
An argument for ontological nihilism
This paper has two main aims. I first argue that ontological nihilism, that is, the view that there are no things is a consistent position. Second, I discuss an argument for the view that nihilism is not just possible but actually true, that is that there actually are no things (This paper is not meant as an addition to the considerable literature on the question of why there is something rather than nothing. Of course, any attempt to answer this…
David Seyfort Ruegg: 1 August, 1931– 2 February, 2021
s first encounter with a living Tibetan happened, somewhat incongruously, on New York City's 5th Avenue. 1 In early August 1948 Ruegg was sitting on a bus when he spotted a man in Tibetan dress, surrounded by his entourage, walking along the high-rises of Manhattan.The man was Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet's Finance Minister and head of the Tibetan trade mission on his visit to the United States in a brave, but ultimately futile attempt to support …
The Non-Existence of the Real World
The book is concerned with the existence of the real world, that is, with the existence of a world of objects that exist independent of human interests, concerns, and cognitive activities. The main thesis defended is that we have good reason to deny the existence of such a world. The discussion is concerned with four main facets of assuming a real world: (a) the existence of an external world of physical objects in space and time; (b) the existen…
Non-Existence of the Real World
The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy
This book gives a concise account of one of the most vibrant episodes in the history of ancient Indian thought, the development of Buddhist philosophy from the composition of the Abhidharma works before the beginning of the Common Era up to the time of Dharmakīrti in the sixth century CE. This period was characterized by the development of a variety of Buddhist philosophical schools and approaches that have shaped Buddhist thought up to the prese…
The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE
"Jan Westerhoff unfolds the story of one of the richest episodes in the history of Indian thought, the development of Buddhist philosophy in the first millennium CE. He starts from the composition of the Abhidharma works before the beginning of the common era and continues up to the time of Dharmakirti in the sixth century. This period was characterized by the development of a variety of philosophical schools and approaches that have shaped Buddh…
Madhyamaka and Modern Western Philosophy: A Report
In the past the study of Asian philosophical traditions has often been approached by asking how the theories developed within these nonWestern cultures would help us to solve problems in contemporary Western philosophy. The present account, which summarizes results of a research project funded by the John Templeton foundation in 2015, attempts to reverse this way of studying Asian philosophy by investigating which theories, approaches and models …
Nāgārjuna and the Philosophy of Language
Madhyamaka and Yogācāra: Allies or Rivals?
Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies or Rivals
Madhyamaka and Yogacara are the two principal schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. While Madhyamaka asserts the ultimate emptiness and conventional reality of all phenomena, Yogacara is usually considered to be idealistic. This collection of essays addresses the degree to which these philosophical approaches are consistent or complementary. Indian and Tibetan doxographies often take these two schools to be philosophical rivals. They are groun…
On the Nihilist Interpretation of Madhyamaka
Dan Arnold, Brains, Buddhas, and Believing: The Problem of Intentionality in Classical Buddhist and Cognitive-Scientific Philosophy of Mind
Dan Arnold, Brains, Buddhas, and Believing: The Problem of Intentionality in Classical Buddhist and Cognitive-Scientific Philosophy of Mind. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 2012. 328 pp. $50.00/£34.50. ISBN: 978-0-231-14546-6 (hardback)
The Dispeller of Disputes
The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of objections (coming both from Buddhists and from non-Buddhists) which have been put forward against his theory of emptiness discussed in his main work, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Vigrahavyāvartanī is especially noteworthy for its treatment of topics which…
The Catuṣkoṭi or Tetralemma
Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Investigation
Discussing the thought of the 2nd century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, this book offers a synoptic presentation of the main philosophical topics Nāgārjuna investigates.
Nāgārjuna’s Arguments on Motion Revisited
The Madhyamaka Concept of Svabhāva: Ontological and Cognitive Aspects
This paper considers the philosophical interpretation of the concept of svabhāva, sometimes translated as ‘inherent existence’ or ‘own-being’, in the Madyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy. It is argued that svabhāva must be understood as having two different conceptual dimensions, an ontological and a cognitive one. The ontological dimension of svabhāva shows it to play a particular part in theories investigating the most fundamental constituen…
Ontological Categories: Their Nature and Significance
"The concept of an ontological category is central to metaphysics. Metaphysicians argue about which category an object should be assigned to, whether some categories can be reduced to other ones, or whether there might be different equally adequate systems of categorization. Answers to these questions presuppose a clear understanding of what precisely an ontological category is, an issue which is rarely addressed; Jan Westerhoff presents the firs…
A World of Signs: Baroque Pansemioticism, the Polyhistor and the Early Modern Wunderkammer
This paper is an attempt to argue that there existed a very prominent view of signs and signification in late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe which can help us to understand several puzzling aspects of baroque culture. This view, called here "pansemioticism," constituted a fundamental part of the baroque conception of the world. After sketching the content and importance of pansemioticism, I will show how it can help us to understand th…
Poeta Calculans: Harsdorffer, Leibniz, and the mathesis universalis
Poeta Calculans: Harsdörffer, Leibniz, and the mathesis universalis Jan C. Westerhoff This paper seeks to indicate some connections between a major philosophical project of the seventeenth century, the conception of a mathesis universalis, and the practice of baroque poetry. I shall argue that these connections consist in a peculiar view of language and systems of notation which was particularly common in European baroque culture and which provid…
Poeta Calculans: "Harsdorffer, Leibniz, and the "Mathesis Universalis
This paper seeks to indicate some connections between a major philosophical project of the seventeenth century, the conception of a mathesis universalis, and the practice of baroque poetry.I shall argue that these connections consist in a peculiar view of language and systems of notation which was particularly common in European baroque culture and which provided the necessary conceptual background for both poetry and the mathesis universalis.'Be…
On the Nihilist Interpretation of Madhyamaka
A World of Signs: Baroque Pansemioticism, the Polyhistor and the Early Modern Wunderkammer
This paper is an attempt to argue that there existed a very prominent view of signs and signification in late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe which can help us to understand several puzzling aspects of baroque culture. This view, called here "pansemioticism," constituted a fundamental part of the baroque conception of the world. After sketching the content and importance of pansemioticism, I will show how it can help us to understand th…
Nāgārjuna and the Philosophy of Language
Poeta Calculans: Harsdorffer, Leibniz, and the mathesis universalis
Poeta Calculans: Harsdörffer, Leibniz, and the mathesis universalis Jan C. Westerhoff This paper seeks to indicate some connections between a major philosophical project of the seventeenth century, the conception of a mathesis universalis, and the practice of baroque poetry. I shall argue that these connections consist in a peculiar view of language and systems of notation which was particularly common in European baroque culture and which provid…
Poeta Calculans: "Harsdorffer, Leibniz, and the "Mathesis Universalis
This paper seeks to indicate some connections between a major philosophical project of the seventeenth century, the conception of a mathesis universalis, and the practice of baroque poetry.I shall argue that these connections consist in a peculiar view of language and systems of notation which was particularly common in European baroque culture and which provided the necessary conceptual background for both poetry and the mathesis universalis.'Be…
A World of Signs: Baroque Pansemioticism, the Polyhistor and the Early Modern Wunderkammer
This paper is an attempt to argue that there existed a very prominent view of signs and signification in late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe which can help us to understand several puzzling aspects of baroque culture. This view, called here "pansemioticism," constituted a fundamental part of the baroque conception of the world. After sketching the content and importance of pansemioticism, I will show how it can help us to understand th…
Ontological Categories: Their Nature and Significance
"The concept of an ontological category is central to metaphysics. Metaphysicians argue about which category an object should be assigned to, whether some categories can be reduced to other ones, or whether there might be different equally adequate systems of categorization. Answers to these questions presuppose a clear understanding of what precisely an ontological category is, an issue which is rarely addressed; Jan Westerhoff presents the firs…
The Madhyamaka Concept of Svabhāva: Ontological and Cognitive Aspects
This paper considers the philosophical interpretation of the concept of svabhāva, sometimes translated as ‘inherent existence’ or ‘own-being’, in the Madyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy. It is argued that svabhāva must be understood as having two different conceptual dimensions, an ontological and a cognitive one. The ontological dimension of svabhāva shows it to play a particular part in theories investigating the most fundamental constituen…
Nāgārjuna’s Arguments on Motion Revisited
The Catuṣkoṭi or Tetralemma
Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Investigation
Discussing the thought of the 2nd century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, this book offers a synoptic presentation of the main philosophical topics Nāgārjuna investigates.
The Dispeller of Disputes
The Vigrahavyāvartanī is a short work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna. In this text, which is written in a lively question-and-answer style he addresses a number of objections (coming both from Buddhists and from non-Buddhists) which have been put forward against his theory of emptiness discussed in his main work, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Vigrahavyāvartanī is especially noteworthy for its treatment of topics which…
Dan Arnold, Brains, Buddhas, and Believing: The Problem of Intentionality in Classical Buddhist and Cognitive-Scientific Philosophy of Mind
Dan Arnold, Brains, Buddhas, and Believing: The Problem of Intentionality in Classical Buddhist and Cognitive-Scientific Philosophy of Mind. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 2012. 328 pp. $50.00/£34.50. ISBN: 978-0-231-14546-6 (hardback)
On the Nihilist Interpretation of Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka and Yogācāra: Allies or Rivals?
Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies or Rivals
Madhyamaka and Yogacara are the two principal schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. While Madhyamaka asserts the ultimate emptiness and conventional reality of all phenomena, Yogacara is usually considered to be idealistic. This collection of essays addresses the degree to which these philosophical approaches are consistent or complementary. Indian and Tibetan doxographies often take these two schools to be philosophical rivals. They are groun…
Madhyamaka and Modern Western Philosophy: A Report
In the past the study of Asian philosophical traditions has often been approached by asking how the theories developed within these nonWestern cultures would help us to solve problems in contemporary Western philosophy. The present account, which summarizes results of a research project funded by the John Templeton foundation in 2015, attempts to reverse this way of studying Asian philosophy by investigating which theories, approaches and models …
Nāgārjuna and the Philosophy of Language
The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy
This book gives a concise account of one of the most vibrant episodes in the history of ancient Indian thought, the development of Buddhist philosophy from the composition of the Abhidharma works before the beginning of the Common Era up to the time of Dharmakīrti in the sixth century CE. This period was characterized by the development of a variety of Buddhist philosophical schools and approaches that have shaped Buddhist thought up to the prese…
The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE
"Jan Westerhoff unfolds the story of one of the richest episodes in the history of Indian thought, the development of Buddhist philosophy in the first millennium CE. He starts from the composition of the Abhidharma works before the beginning of the common era and continues up to the time of Dharmakirti in the sixth century. This period was characterized by the development of a variety of philosophical schools and approaches that have shaped Buddh…
The Non-Existence of the Real World
The book is concerned with the existence of the real world, that is, with the existence of a world of objects that exist independent of human interests, concerns, and cognitive activities. The main thesis defended is that we have good reason to deny the existence of such a world. The discussion is concerned with four main facets of assuming a real world: (a) the existence of an external world of physical objects in space and time; (b) the existen…
Non-Existence of the Real World
David Seyfort Ruegg: 1 August, 1931– 2 February, 2021
s first encounter with a living Tibetan happened, somewhat incongruously, on New York City's 5th Avenue. 1 In early August 1948 Ruegg was sitting on a bus when he spotted a man in Tibetan dress, surrounded by his entourage, walking along the high-rises of Manhattan.The man was Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet's Finance Minister and head of the Tibetan trade mission on his visit to the United States in a brave, but ultimately futile attempt to support …
An argument for ontological nihilism
This paper has two main aims. I first argue that ontological nihilism, that is, the view that there are no things is a consistent position. Second, I discuss an argument for the view that nihilism is not just possible but actually true, that is that there actually are no things (This paper is not meant as an addition to the considerable literature on the question of why there is something rather than nothing. Of course, any attempt to answer this…
Idealist Implications of Contemporary Science
Philosophy (18 works) · Epistemology (15 works) · Buddhism (10 works) · Indian and Buddhist Studies (9 works) · Theology (9 works) · Buddhist philosophy (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Metaphysics (5 works)