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Jan Westerhoff

University of Oxford, Faculty of Theology and Religion, Faculty Member

School of Oriental and African Studies, Religions and Philosphies, Department Member

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Jan Westerhoff was educated at Cambridge and the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has taught Philosophy at the Universities of Oxford and Durham and is presently Professor of Buddhist Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.
Address: Lady Margaret Hall
Norham Gardens
Oxford OX2 6QA
United Kingdom

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Papers by Jan Westerhoff

Yogācāra and the notion of ‘mind-only’ (yusim, 唯心)

Buddhism and Culture, 2024

A brief popular piece on Yogācāra for a Korean publication. The original English follows the Kore... more

Madhyamaka and the non-existence of a fundamental level

Buddhism and Culture, 2023

A brief popular piece on Madhyamaka for a Korean publication. The original English follows the Ko... more

Does causation entail emptiness? On a point of dispute between Abhidharma and Madhyamaka

Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2023

The aim of this paper is to assess the relation between causation and the notion of emptiness des... more The aim of this paper is to assess the relation between causation and the notion of emptiness described in Buddhist philosophy. While the Madhyamaka school argues that some entity's being caused implies its being empty, some contemporary authors have argued that there is a 'Humean' regularity account of causation that can both be understood as a plausible model of the earlier Buddhist Abhidharma account of causation and also block the Madhyamaka inference from causation to emptiness. After describing the Abhidharma account of causation, the 'Humean' regularity account and the Madhyamaka argument from causation to emptiness, we assess some ways in which this argument may be developed, with particular focus on the 'ladder of causation' and on the Madhyamaka account of time. The debate about the relation between causation and emptiness, it appears, is a facet of a more comprehensive metaphysical debate between a (moderate) foundationalism and a thoroughgoing anti-foundationalism.

Idealist Implications of Contemporary Science

Erkenntnis, 2023

Recent developments in contemporary natural science (including the evolutionary study of percepti... more Recent developments in contemporary natural science (including the evolutionary study of perception, cognitive science, and interpretations of quantum physics) incorporate central idealist positions relating to the nature of representation, the role our minds play in structuring our experience of the world, and the properties of the world behind our representations. This paper first describes what these positions are, and how they are introduced in the relevant theories in terms of precisely formulated scientific analogues. I subsequently consider how this way of looking at philosophical idealism through selected parts of contemporary science can help us to pursue new ways of developing key idealist questions in a way that is integrated with a naturalistically supported endeavour to understand central features of reality.

Does reality have a ground? Madhyamaka and nonfoundationalism

Steven M. Emmanuel (ed.): Philosophy’s Big Questions. Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches, Columbia University Press, New York, 2021, 77-96. , 2021

This paper discusses the contribution of Madhyamaka to the philosophical debate about nonfoundati... more

Review of "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics"

Tricylce, 2023

This is a short review of the 4-volume series "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Clas... more

Review of "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics".

Tricycle, 2023

This is a short review of the 4-volume series "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Clas... more

Nalanda: powerful then, powerful now.

Buddhadharma Magazine, Spring 2023, 12-23. , 2023

This essay provides a popular account of the historical and religious significance of Nālandā uni... more

How can Buddhists account for the continuity of mind after death?

Christian Coseru (ed): Reasons and Empty Persons: Mind, Metaphysics, and Morality. Essays in Honor of Mark Siderits, Springer, Cham., 2023

This paper examines systematic developments of arguments for the Buddhist conception of the conti... more

Goodman, Solipsism, and Immaterialism

Constructivist Foundations, 2022

I consider two problems arising in the context of Goodmanian constructivism as discussed by Bin L... more

Moonpath: Ethics and Emptiness

Oxford Scholarship Online, 2018

The chapter begins by presenting a general overview of the rise of the Mahāyāna and its relation ... more The chapter begins by presenting a general overview of the rise of the Mahāyāna and its relation to the main schools of Buddhist philosophy associated with it, Madhyamaka and Yogācāra. This is followed by an introduction to the Madhyamaka school proper, focusing on the life and works of its founder, Nāgārjuna. The third section of the chapter examines the foundational sūtras of the Madhyamaka school, the Prajñāpāramitā or Perfection of Wisdom texts, focusing on their criticism of the Abhidharma philosophical project, their comprehensive illusionism, and their prima facie acceptance of contradictions. This is followed by an account of how these themes play a key role in the Madhyamaka system as set out by Nāgārjuna. The chapter then turns to examining the philosophical contributions of major Madhyamaka thinkers such as Buddhapālita, Bhāviveka, Candrakīrti, Śāntarakṣita, and Kamalaśīla. The chapter concludes by a discussion of the relation between Madhyamaka and Nyāya.

Some remarks on a problem in Madhyamaka philosophy of language

Ratio, 2018

This paper attempts to dissolve an apparent difficulty arising in the philosophy of language as d... more This paper attempts to dissolve an apparent difficulty arising in the philosophy of language as discussed by the Indian Buddhist Madhyamaka school. On the one hand Madhyamaka seems to be claiming that every entity is fundamentally linguistic in nature, on the other hand it also asserts that language does not exist. I argue that the difficulty is to be dissolved by distinguishing two different senses of language appealed to by the Mādhyamikas. They argue that one specific understanding of language is deficient (and that therefore language thus understood does not exist), but this is not the same sense of language according to which everything is linguistic in nature. The apparent contradiction is thereby resolved.

Costruzioni senza fine? Un problema per il costruttivismo goodmaniano

Rivista di estetica, 2009

Logical Relations between Pictures

Journal of Philosophy, 2005

An implication relation between pictures is defined, it is then shown how conjunctions, disjuncti... more An implication relation between pictures is defined, it is then shown how conjunctions, disjunctions, negations, and hypotheticals of pictures can be formed on the basis of this. It is argued that these logical operations on pictures correspond to natural cognitive operations employed when thinking about pictures.

What it Means to Live in a Virtual World Generated by Our Brain

Erkenntnis, 2015

Recent discussions in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind have defended a theory accordi... more Recent discussions in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind have defended a theory according to which we live in a virtual world akin to a computer simulation, generated by our brain. It is argued that our brain creates a model world from a variety of stimuli; this model is perceived as if it was external and perception-independent, even though it is neither of the two. The view of the mind, brain, and world, entailed by this theory (here called “virtual world theory”) has some peculiar consequences which have rarely been explored in detail. This paper sets out virtual world theory (1.1) and relates it to various central philosophical problems (indirect realism (1.2), the role of the perceiver (1.3) and the problem of the existence of the external world (1.4)). The second part suggests three interpretations of virtual world theory, two familiar ones (a strong and a weak one, 2.1) and a somewhat less familiar one (the irrealist interpretation, 2.2). The remainder of the paper argues that the irrealist interpretation is the one we should adopt (2.3–2.6).

Nāgārjuna’s Yogācāra

Allies or Rivals?, 2015

A World of Signs: Baroque Pansemioticism, the Polyhistor and the Early Modern Wunderkammer

Journal of the History of Ideas, 2001

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

The No-Thesis View: Making Sense of Verse 29 of Nāgārjuna’s Vigrahavyāvartanī

Buddhism, Logic, Analytic Philosophy, 2009

Individuals and properties in an ontology of states of affairs

Ontological Categories, 2005

Yogācāra and the notion of ‘mind-only’ (yusim, 唯心)

Buddhism and Culture, 2024

A brief popular piece on Yogācāra for a Korean publication. The original English follows the Kore... more

Madhyamaka and the non-existence of a fundamental level

Buddhism and Culture, 2023

A brief popular piece on Madhyamaka for a Korean publication. The original English follows the Ko... more

Does causation entail emptiness? On a point of dispute between Abhidharma and Madhyamaka

Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2023

The aim of this paper is to assess the relation between causation and the notion of emptiness des... more The aim of this paper is to assess the relation between causation and the notion of emptiness described in Buddhist philosophy. While the Madhyamaka school argues that some entity's being caused implies its being empty, some contemporary authors have argued that there is a 'Humean' regularity account of causation that can both be understood as a plausible model of the earlier Buddhist Abhidharma account of causation and also block the Madhyamaka inference from causation to emptiness. After describing the Abhidharma account of causation, the 'Humean' regularity account and the Madhyamaka argument from causation to emptiness, we assess some ways in which this argument may be developed, with particular focus on the 'ladder of causation' and on the Madhyamaka account of time. The debate about the relation between causation and emptiness, it appears, is a facet of a more comprehensive metaphysical debate between a (moderate) foundationalism and a thoroughgoing anti-foundationalism.

Idealist Implications of Contemporary Science

Erkenntnis, 2023

Recent developments in contemporary natural science (including the evolutionary study of percepti... more Recent developments in contemporary natural science (including the evolutionary study of perception, cognitive science, and interpretations of quantum physics) incorporate central idealist positions relating to the nature of representation, the role our minds play in structuring our experience of the world, and the properties of the world behind our representations. This paper first describes what these positions are, and how they are introduced in the relevant theories in terms of precisely formulated scientific analogues. I subsequently consider how this way of looking at philosophical idealism through selected parts of contemporary science can help us to pursue new ways of developing key idealist questions in a way that is integrated with a naturalistically supported endeavour to understand central features of reality.

Does reality have a ground? Madhyamaka and nonfoundationalism

Steven M. Emmanuel (ed.): Philosophy’s Big Questions. Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches, Columbia University Press, New York, 2021, 77-96. , 2021

This paper discusses the contribution of Madhyamaka to the philosophical debate about nonfoundati... more

Review of "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics"

Tricylce, 2023

This is a short review of the 4-volume series "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Clas... more

Review of "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics".

Tricycle, 2023

This is a short review of the 4-volume series "Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Clas... more

Nalanda: powerful then, powerful now.

Buddhadharma Magazine, Spring 2023, 12-23. , 2023

This essay provides a popular account of the historical and religious significance of Nālandā uni... more

How can Buddhists account for the continuity of mind after death?

Christian Coseru (ed): Reasons and Empty Persons: Mind, Metaphysics, and Morality. Essays in Honor of Mark Siderits, Springer, Cham., 2023

This paper examines systematic developments of arguments for the Buddhist conception of the conti... more

Goodman, Solipsism, and Immaterialism

Constructivist Foundations, 2022

I consider two problems arising in the context of Goodmanian constructivism as discussed by Bin L... more

Moonpath: Ethics and Emptiness

Oxford Scholarship Online, 2018

The chapter begins by presenting a general overview of the rise of the Mahāyāna and its relation ... more The chapter begins by presenting a general overview of the rise of the Mahāyāna and its relation to the main schools of Buddhist philosophy associated with it, Madhyamaka and Yogācāra. This is followed by an introduction to the Madhyamaka school proper, focusing on the life and works of its founder, Nāgārjuna. The third section of the chapter examines the foundational sūtras of the Madhyamaka school, the Prajñāpāramitā or Perfection of Wisdom texts, focusing on their criticism of the Abhidharma philosophical project, their comprehensive illusionism, and their prima facie acceptance of contradictions. This is followed by an account of how these themes play a key role in the Madhyamaka system as set out by Nāgārjuna. The chapter then turns to examining the philosophical contributions of major Madhyamaka thinkers such as Buddhapālita, Bhāviveka, Candrakīrti, Śāntarakṣita, and Kamalaśīla. The chapter concludes by a discussion of the relation between Madhyamaka and Nyāya.

Some remarks on a problem in Madhyamaka philosophy of language

Ratio, 2018

This paper attempts to dissolve an apparent difficulty arising in the philosophy of language as d... more This paper attempts to dissolve an apparent difficulty arising in the philosophy of language as discussed by the Indian Buddhist Madhyamaka school. On the one hand Madhyamaka seems to be claiming that every entity is fundamentally linguistic in nature, on the other hand it also asserts that language does not exist. I argue that the difficulty is to be dissolved by distinguishing two different senses of language appealed to by the Mādhyamikas. They argue that one specific understanding of language is deficient (and that therefore language thus understood does not exist), but this is not the same sense of language according to which everything is linguistic in nature. The apparent contradiction is thereby resolved.

Costruzioni senza fine? Un problema per il costruttivismo goodmaniano

Rivista di estetica, 2009

Logical Relations between Pictures

Journal of Philosophy, 2005

An implication relation between pictures is defined, it is then shown how conjunctions, disjuncti... more An implication relation between pictures is defined, it is then shown how conjunctions, disjunctions, negations, and hypotheticals of pictures can be formed on the basis of this. It is argued that these logical operations on pictures correspond to natural cognitive operations employed when thinking about pictures.

What it Means to Live in a Virtual World Generated by Our Brain

Erkenntnis, 2015

Recent discussions in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind have defended a theory accordi... more Recent discussions in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind have defended a theory according to which we live in a virtual world akin to a computer simulation, generated by our brain. It is argued that our brain creates a model world from a variety of stimuli; this model is perceived as if it was external and perception-independent, even though it is neither of the two. The view of the mind, brain, and world, entailed by this theory (here called “virtual world theory”) has some peculiar consequences which have rarely been explored in detail. This paper sets out virtual world theory (1.1) and relates it to various central philosophical problems (indirect realism (1.2), the role of the perceiver (1.3) and the problem of the existence of the external world (1.4)). The second part suggests three interpretations of virtual world theory, two familiar ones (a strong and a weak one, 2.1) and a somewhat less familiar one (the irrealist interpretation, 2.2). The remainder of the paper argues that the irrealist interpretation is the one we should adopt (2.3–2.6).

Nāgārjuna’s Yogācāra

Allies or Rivals?, 2015

A World of Signs: Baroque Pansemioticism, the Polyhistor and the Early Modern Wunderkammer

Journal of the History of Ideas, 2001

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

The No-Thesis View: Making Sense of Verse 29 of Nāgārjuna’s Vigrahavyāvartanī

Buddhism, Logic, Analytic Philosophy, 2009

Individuals and properties in an ontology of states of affairs

Ontological Categories, 2005

Creation in Buddhism

Simon Oliver: The Oxford Handbook of Creation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, forthcoming., 2021

Buddhism does not assume the existence of a creator god, and so it might seem as if the question ... more Buddhism does not assume the existence of a creator god, and so it might seem as if the question of creation, of how and why the world came into existence was not of great interest for Buddhist thinkers. Nevertheless, questions of the origin of the world become important in the Buddhist context, not so much when investigating how the world came into existence, but when investigating how it can be brought out of existence, i.e. how one can escape from the circle of birth and death that constitutes cyclic existence in order to become enlightened. If the aim of the Buddhist path is the dissolution of the world of rebirth in which we live, some account must be given of what keeps this world in existence, so that a way of removing whatever this is can be found. In the context of this discussion we will discuss how some key Buddhist concepts (such as causation, karma, dependent origination, ontological anti-foundationalism, and the storehouse consciousness) relate to the origin of the world, and what role they play in its eventual dissolution when enlightenment is obtained.