Dien Ho, PhD
Director of the Center for Health Humanities
School
School of Arts and Sciences
Department
School of Arts and Sciences
Office Location
Fennell 218
Boston
Email Email: dien.ho@mcphs.edu
Office Phone Office Phone: 617.732.2953
About
Dien Ho is a professor of philosophy and healthcare ethics and the chair of the Center for Health Humanities. His current research is on placebos and their use in clinical care. Other research areas of his include philosophy of medicine, healthcare ethics, and philosophy of science. Dien was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States at 13. In addition to his love for philosophy, he is passionate about cycling and zombies.
Education
- Philosophy, PhD, The Graduate Center at the City University of New York
- Philosophy, MA, Tufts University
- Philosophy and Politics, BA, Brandeis University
Research Interests
- Healthcare ethics
- Philosophy of medicine
- Placebo usage in research and clinical medicine
- Philosophy of science
Programs
Featured Affiliations
Committee Member, American Philosophical Association's Committee on Asian and Asian American Philosophers and Philosophies
LinkEditor, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (book review section) Advisory Editor, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
LinkMember, Editorial Board, Journal of Medical Humanities
LinkEducation
- Philosophy, PhD, The Graduate Center at the City University of New York
- Philosophy, MA, Tufts University
- Philosophy and Politics, BA, Brandeis University
Research Interests
- Healthcare ethics
- Philosophy of medicine
- Placebo usage in research and clinical medicine
- Philosophy of science
Programs
Peer-Reviewed Articles & Book Chapters
- Howick, J., Zhao, L., McKaig, B., Rosa, A., Campaner, R., Oke, J., & Ho, D. Do medical schools teach medical humanities? Review of curricula in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13589
- "Harm, Truth, and the Nocebo Effect," Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 2020 29(2), 236-245. doi:10.1017/S0963180119001038
- "Why Construing Theories of Depression as Lakatos' Research Programs Might Spell Trouble for their Proponents," Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology, 2018 25(4), 305-307.
- "Love in the Time of Antibiotic Resistance: How Altruism Might Be Our Best Hope." In D. Ho (Ed.), Philosophical Issues in Pharmaceutics: Development, Dispensing, and Use: Springer 2017.
- “Keeping it Ethically Real,” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 2016 Aug;41(4):369-83. doi: 10.1093/jmp/jhw010. Epub 2016 Jun 2.
- “Making Ethical Progress without Ethical Theories,” AMA Journal of Ethics, April 2015. http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2015/04/spec1-1504.html
- “The Gen-Ethics Bowl – An In-Class Activity Combining Genetics and Bioethics” Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, December 2014.
- “Borderline Disorder: Medical Personnel and Law Enforcement,” (co-authored with Ken Richman and Mark Bigney) Hasting Center Report—Bioethics Forum, 4/3/2014. http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=6854&blogid=140
- "What's So Bad About Being A Zombie?" Philosophy NOW, May/June 2013. http://philosophynow.org/issues/96/Whats_So_Bad_About_Being_A_Zombie
- "Paradigms, Coherence, and the Fog of Evidence," Virtual Mentor--American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, January 2013, vol 15(1): pp. 65-70. http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2013/01/msoc1-1301.html
- "Pharmacist Ethics," International Encyclopedia of Ethics, edited by Hugh LaFollette, Blackwell Publishing, 2013: pp. 3874–3881
- "Antidepressants and the FDA’s Black-Box Warning: Determining a Rational Public Policy in the Absence of Sufficient Evidence," Virtual Mentor—American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, June 2012, vol 14(6): pp. 483-488. http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2012/06/pfor2-1206.html
- "Providing Optimal Care with Dirty Hands," The American Journal of Bioethics, 2010, vol 10(2): pp. 16-17
- "When Good Organs Go to Bad People," Bioethics, 2008, vol 22(2): pp. 77-83
- "Farewell to Empiricism," Images of Empiricism: Essay on Science and Stances, with a Reply from Bas van Fraassen, edited by Brad Monton, Oxford University Press, 2007: pp. 319-334
- "Ectogenesis and the Limits of Medicine," Ectogenesis: The Artificial Womb and the Future of Human Reproduction, edited by Scott Gelfand and John Shook, Rodopi Press, 2006: pp. 139-147
- "Anthropic Reasoning Does Not Conflict with Observation," (with Brad Monton) Analysis, January 2005: pp. 42-45
- "Explaining Human Actions Epistemically," The Explanation of Human Interpretation, edited by João Sàágua, Edições Colibri, 2005: pp. 327-334
Awards and Honors
- Visiting Scholar, Institute of Biomedical Ethics and the History of Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland, October, 2022.
- Annual Scholarship Award (Scholarship of Integration) for A Philosopher Goes to the Doctor, MCPHS, 2020.
- The School of Arts and Sciences' Teaching Award, MCPHS, 2019.
- The Development of a Health Humanities Major for Colleges of the Fenway Undergraduate
- Davis Grant—Colleges of the Fenway (fully funded: $15,000). Principle Investigator.
- Visiting Scholar, Institute of Medical Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch, spring 2015.
- Visiting Scholar, University of Akureyri, Iceland, May 2015 and November 2022.
More Affiliations
- Associate Director, Division of Pharmacy Ethics, Cambridge Consortium for Bioethics Education USA Working Group
Books
- A Philosopher Goes to the Doctor: A Critical Look at Philosophical Assumptions in Medicine: Routledge 2019.
- Philosophical Issues in Pharmaceutics: Development, Dispensing, and Use. Springer 2017.
- The Best Logic Book Ever. Co-authored with Brad Monton. Thomson and Wadsworth. 2006.