Evan Thompson
Philosopher of Mind & Cognitive Science
About
Evan Thompson is a professor of philosophy and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. With Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch, he co-authored The Embodied Mind, the foundational text of enactivism in cognitive science. His subsequent works — Mind in Life, Waking, Dreaming, Being, and Why I Am Not a Buddhist — weave together phenomenology, neuroscience, and Asian philosophical traditions to argue that consciousness cannot be understood apart from lived experience. His most recent book, The Blind Spot (2024, with Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser), challenges science's tendency to ignore the experiential ground from which it operates.
Key Contributions
- Co-authored 'The Embodied Mind,' helping launch enactivism as a bridge between cognitive science, phenomenology, and Buddhist thought
- Developed the life-mind continuity thesis in 'Mind in Life,' arguing cognition grows out of living self-organization
- Wrote 'Waking, Dreaming, Being,' connecting neuroscience, meditation, dream research, and phenomenology
- Wrote 'Why I Am Not a Buddhist,' criticizing Buddhist exceptionalism while still taking contemplative traditions seriously
- Co-authored 'The Blind Spot,' arguing that science forgets the lived experience from which inquiry begins
- His work resists both reductive neuroscience and romantic spirituality, a balance that makes it valuable but hard to categorize
Videos & Interviews
Moving Beyond the Blind Spot: Seeing what we don't see with Evan Thompson and Andrea Hiott
Conversation on the blind spot of science and why lived experience must be central to understanding
View Details
The Blind Spot in Perception: Cognitive Science, Asian Philosophy, and Mystical Insight
Conversation with John Vervaeke exploring how cognitive science, philosophy, and mysticism converge
View Details
Waking, Dreaming, Being | Dr. Evan Thompson | Talks at Google
Talk on self and consciousness through neuroscience, meditation, and philosophy
View Details
