About Dr Toby Thompson

What sort of person spends time thinking about existence?

That'd be me then. Maybe you've caught yourself thinking about what it means to 'be' you? Well, I'm pleased to meet you, because that's what I do too!

Previously I was at a UK University, where I taught philosophy to academics and postgraduate students – as well as designing programmes of executive education, and running an online teaching studio. I have a PhD from University College London's Institute of Education – this was in the philosophy of executive education. Check out my book Heidegger and Executive Education. Don't get me started on that topic! I know what it means to be an executive in a corporation, and I know a thing or two about philosophy – particularly existential thinking. Ask me about my conversation with a NASA astronaut aboard the ISS on that topic – an amazing experience!

And many years ago, as you can also see from the photo, I was an ordained Zen Buddhist monk for 6 years, in a UK Zen monastery. You don't get more of a chance to peel back the layers of existence. I'll be putting this experience to good use in our online conversations, and we can talk about this some more.

I'm a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), have degrees in philosophy and management learning, and a certificate in therapeutic counselling. Along with being married with 2 grown-up kids, I love walking, reading philosophy & literature. And I take ontological precarity seriously.