Evan Thompson (born 1962) is a professor of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, specializing in

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...

, and cross-cultural philosophy, particularly

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy is the ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system that developed within the religio-philosophical tradition of Buddhism. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and Buddhist logico-episte ...

in dialogue with Western philosophy of mind and cognitive science.

Life

As a child, Thompson was home-schooled at the Lindisfarne Association, a think tank and retreat founded by his father, William Irwin Thompson. In 1977, Thompson met Chilean phenomenologist Francisco Varela when Varela attended a Lindisfarne conference which was organized by Thompson Senior and Gregory Bateson. Thompson received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1990 and an A.B. in Asian Studies from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

in 1983.

Career

Thompson has taught at the University of Toronto,

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. While at York University, Thompson was also a member of the Centre for Vision Research. Thompson has held visiting appointments at the Center for Subjectivity Research in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, and at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Thompson worked with Francisco Varela at CREA ( Centre de Recherche en Epistemologie Appliquée) at the Ecole Polytechnique in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. During this time, Varela and Thompson, along with

Eleanor Rosch Eleanor Rosch (once known as Eleanor Rosch Heider;"Natural Categories", Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 4, No. 3, (May 1973), p. 328. born 9 July 1938) is an American psychologist. She is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berk ...

, wrote ''The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience,'' which introduced the approach to cognitive science known as enactivism. Thompson's book, ''Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind'', argues for a deep continuity between life and mind. In 2015, Thompson publishe
''Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy''
. In this work, he combines insights from neuroscience, meditation and philosophy with his own biographical background and personal storytelling, including encounters with F. Varela and the 14th Dalai Lama. Based on his theory that direct experience plays a primary role, Thompson advocates for the development of a contemplative neuroscience. In 2020, Thompson published '' Why I Am Not A Buddhist,'' which argues against what he calls Buddhist exceptionalism, "the belief that Buddhism is superior to other religions...or that Buddhism isn't really a religion but rather is a kind of 'mind science,' therapy, philosophy, or a way of life based on meditation."

Works

* Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and

, ''The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience''. MIT Press, 1991. *''Colour Vision: A Study in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception'' Routledge Press, 1995 *''Between Ourselves: Second Person Issues in the Study of Consciousness''. Imprint Academic, 2001. Published also as a special triple issue of the '' Journal of Consciousness Studies'' *Alva Noe and Evan Thompson, eds., ''Vision and Mind: Selected Readings in the Philosophy of Perception''. MIT Press, 2002. *''The Problem of Consciousness: New Essays in Phenomenological Philosophy of Mind''. ''Canadian Journal of Philosophy'', Supplementary Volume 29: 2003. University of Alberta Press *Giovanna Colombetti and Evan Thompson, eds., ''Emotion Experience''. Imprint Academic, 2005. Published also as a special triple issue of the ''Journal of Consciousness Studies''
''The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness''
Edited by Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, May 2007

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

: Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology series, *
Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind
'.

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 2010,
''Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy''

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

, 2014, *'' Why I am Not a Buddhist''.

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2020 * ''The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience'', MIT Press, 2024,

Notes

External links

Thompson's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Evan 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American philosophers 1962 births American male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Living people Canadian philosophers of mind Academic staff of the University of British Columbia American Indologists Amherst College alumni Tibetan Buddhism writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers University of Toronto alumni

Life

Career

Works

See also

Notes

External links