Science in Solitude

A Conversation with Evan Thompson

February 15, 2021

In this conversation Sam Harris speaks with Evan Thompson about the relationship between meditative insight and science. They discuss Buddhist modernism, the difference between Buddhism and other religions, the relationship between concepts and what lies beyond concepts, the self as an illusion and the self as a construct, embodied cognition, the foundations of science, the role of culture in shaping spiritual insights, and other topics.

Evan Thompson, Ph.D., is a writer and Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, where he is also an Associate Member of the Department of Psychology and the Department of Asian Studies. His writings combine cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and Asian philosophical traditions. His most recent books are Why I Am Not a Buddhist, and Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy.