While a Fulbright Scholar in Karl Popper’s Philosophy of Science Department at the London School of Economics, Dr. Shear became interested in Eastern accounts of mind not ordinarily discussed by Western philosophers and psychologists. This led to examination of how Eastern experiential procedures could provide an expanded empirical base for our Western theories of mind, knowledge and values, as well as regular practice of such procedures themselves. The significance of such procedures and the experiences they produce has remained the focus of Professor Shear's work for nearly forty years. He is author of "The Inner Dimension: Philosophy and the Experience of Consciousness" (Peter Lang), coeditor of "The View from Within: First-Person Methodologies" (Imprint Academic), coeditor of "Models of the Self" (Imprint Academic), and editor of "Explaining Consciousness: The Hard Problem" (MIT). Professor Shear is also a founding Editor of the peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary Journal of Consciousness Studies.
He is an internationally known expert on meditation experiences, publishing and lecturing widely throughout India, China and the West.
Professor Shear is an Affiliated Associate Professor of philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he has taught Philosophy for the past 19 years.
