Sheldrake and His Critics: The Sense of Being Glared at(Journal of Consciousness Studies)

Rupert Sheldrake outraged the scientific establishment in the early 1980s with his hypothesis of morphic resonance: his book "A New Science of Life" was denounced by the journal "Nature" as 'the best candidate for burning there has been for many years'. With his academic career torpedoed, Sheldrake has become the champion of 'the people's science'. Books such as "Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home" and "The Sense of Being Stared At" have won him popular acclaim and academic opprobrium in equal measure. In this special issue of "The Journal of Consciousness Studies", Sheldrake summarizes his case for the 'non-visual detection of staring'. His claims are scrutinised by fourteen critics, to whose commentaries he then responds. In his editorial introduction, Revd. Anthony Freeman explores the concept of 'heresy' in science and in religion.

Table of Contents:
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION Anthony Freeman, The Sense of Being Glared At: What Is It Like to be a Heretic? TARGET PAPERS Rupert Sheldrake, The Sense of Being Stared At Part 1: Is it Real or Illusory? Rupert Sheldrake, The Sense of Being Stared At Part 2: Its Implications for Theories of Vision OPEN PEER REVIEW Anthony P. Atkinson, Staring At The Back Of Someone's Head Is No Signal, And A Sense Of Being Stared At Is No Sense Ian S. Baker. Nomenclature and Methodology Susan Blackmore, Confusion Worse Confounded William Braud, The Sense of Being Stared At: Fictional, Physical, Perceptual, or Attentional/Intentional? Jean E. Burns, Detection of Staring -- Psi or Statistical Artifact? R.H.S. Carpenter, Does Scopesthesia Imply Extramission? Chris Clarke, The Sense of Being Stared At: Its Relevance to the Physics of Consciousness Ralph Ellis, The Ambiguity of 'In Here/Out There' Talk: In What Sense Is Perception 'Out in the World'? David Fontana, Rupert Sheldrake and the Staring Effect Christopher C. French, A Closer Look at Sheldrake's Treatment of Rattee's Data Dean Radin, The Sense of Being Stared At: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis Marilyn Schlitz, The Discourse of Controversial Science: The Sceptic-Proponent Debate on Remote Staring Stefan Schmidt, Comments on Sheldrake's 'The Sense of Being Stared At' Max Velmans, Are We Out of Our Minds? AUTHOR'S RESPONSE Rupert Sheldrake. The Non-Visual Detection of Staring: Response to Commentators

About the Author :
Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and a former Research Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of Clare College Cambridge. He has conducted independent research for the past 20 years. Anthony Freeman is a priest in the Church of England, dismissed by his bishop for 'heretical' writing in 1994, since when he has been managing editor of the Journal of Consciousness Studies.

Review :
'Highly recommended.' Human Nature Review 'Full of interesting arguments ... a manageable and at times amusing introduction to a classic argument.' Susan Blackmore, Times Higher Education Supplement