Twelve Examples of Illusion by Jan Westerhoff

by Jan Westerhoff

Tibetan Buddhist writings frequently state that many of the things we perceive in the world are in fact illusory, as illusory as echoes or mirages. In Twelve Examples of Illusion , Jan Westerhoff offers an engaging look at a dozen illusions--including magic tricks, dreams, rainbows, and reflections in a mirror--showing how these phenomena can give us insight into reality. For instance, he offers a fascinating discussion of optical illusions, such as the wheel of fire (the "wheel" seen when a torch is swung rapidly in a circle), discussing Tibetan explanations of this phenomenon as well as the findings of modern psychology, and significantly clarifying the idea that most phenomena--from chairs to trees--are similar illusions. The book uses a variety of crystal-clear examples drawn from a wide variety of fields, including contemporary philosophy and cognitive science, as well as the history of science, optics, artificial intelligence, geometry, economics, and literary theory. Throughout, Westerhoff makes both Buddhist philosophical ideas and the latest theories of mind and brain come alive for the general reader.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, Eastern Philosophy, Philosophy, Academic

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Jan Christoph Westerhoff is a philosopher and orientalist with specific interests in metaphysics and the philosophy of language. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and SOAS. At present he is a University Lecturer in Religious Ethics at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall and a Research Associate at SOAS. He was previously a Research Fellow in Philosophy at the City University of New York, a Seminar Associate at Columbia University, a Junior Research Fellow at Linacre College and a Junior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.

He is a specialist in metaphysics and Indo-Tibetan philosophy. His research interests also include the history of ideas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Reviews

[Dharmakirti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful and very readable book uses examples from modern science and Indo-Tibetan Buddhist thought to help show what Indo-Tibetan Buddhist mean when they talk about suffering being caused by the incorrect view of things existing with essence (स्वभाव, svabhāva). Our brains construct a view of the world, the constructed view is an illusion and not reality.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining book about the illusions in the Tibetan tradition, together with the modern science and/of explanation of the illusions. Not too deep, so it is readable for a broad audience.

[Mahiro Yamakawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that tells me everything is illusion lol. Some concepts are so far down the realm of mind fuck that I had hard time grasping, nevertheless very entertaining.
If u don’t think the world is illusion, riddle me this.
The mirror is two diminutional(horizontal and vertical). And what we see in the mirror is horizontally flipped(if we hold a cup with our left hand, the mirror self will hold the cup with his right hand. Okay, so how come the mirror image is not vertically flipped?(with our feet on top and head at bottom?)
…what!?

[Iulia Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Same vibe as a VSauce video, well done!