John Hawthorne is the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the Magdalen College of Oxford University.

He is primarily known for his work in metaphysics and epistemology; his 2006 collection Metaphysical Essays offers original treatments of fundamental topics in philosophy, including identity, ontology, vagueness, and causation.

Hawthorne has also written on philosophy of language and philosophical logic, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and on Leibniz.

Hawthorne earned his BA from the University of Manchester, and his PhD from Syracuse University, where he studied with William Alston and Jonathan F. Bennett. He taught previously at New South Wales, Arizona State, Syracuse, Princeton University, and Rutgers.