Phoebe Friesen is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Ethics and Policy and the Department of Social Studies of Medicine at McGill University. Her work engages with ethical and epistemic issues related to the production and implementation of knowledge in the health sciences, drawing on feminist philosophy of science, ethics scholarship, and methodologies from the social sciences. Among other topics, she has written about the placebo effect, participatory mental health research, psychedelic research, health disparities in medicine, and processes of research ethics oversight. Before coming to McGill, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford and completed a PhD in Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center.
phoebe.friesen [at] mcgill.ca (Email)
Selected Publications
Friesen, P., Goldstein, J. (2023) Standpoint Theory and the Psy Sciences: Can Marginalization and Critical Engagement Lead to an Epistemic Advantage? Hypatia.
Friesen, P. (2022) Psychosis and Psychedelics: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Contrasts. Transcultural Psychiatry. 59:5.
Friesen, P., Gligorov, N., (2022) White Ignorance in Pain Research: Racial Differences and Racial Disparities. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. 32:2, 205-235.
Friesen, P., Goldstein, J., Dixon, L. (2021) A ‘Blip in the Road’: Experiences of Identity after a First Episode of Psychosis. Psychosis: Psychological, Social, and Integrative Approaches. 13:4, p.327-337.
Friesen, P. (2020) Towards an Account of the Placebo Effect: A Critical Evaluation Alongside Current Evidence, Biology & Philosophy.
Wusinich, C., Lindy, D., Russell, D., Pessin, N., Friesen, P. (2020) Experiences of Parachute NYC: An Integration of Open Dialogue and Intentional Peer Support, Community Mental Health Journal.
Friesen, P. (2020) Distancing Medically Assisted Dying from Suicide: Is It Justified? The Hastings Center Report.
Friesen, P., Lignou, S., Sheehan, M., Singh, I. (2019) Measuring the Impact of Participatory Research in Psychiatry: How the search for epistemic justifications obscures ethical considerations. Health Expectations. Special Issue: Showcasing Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in Mental Health Research.
Friesen, P., & O’Leary, K. (2019). Machine learning and suicide prevention: considering context as a guide to ethical design, Mental Health as Public Health: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Ethics of Prevention, Elsevier, Eds. Cratsley, K., and Radden, J.
Friesen, P. (2019) Placebos as a Source of Agency: Evidence and Implications. Frontiers in Psychiatry (Psychosomatic Medicine). Special Issue: Placebo and Nocebo Effects in Psychiatry and Beyond, Eds. Enck, P., Weimer, K., Colloca, L., Dodd, S.
Friesen, P. (2019) Expanding Outcome Measures in Schizophrenia Research: Does RDoC Pose a Threat? Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology.
Friesen, P. (2019) Mesmer, the Placebo Effect, and the Efficacy Paradox: Lessons for Evidence Based Medicine and Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Critical Public Health. Special Issue: Pseudo Matters in Global and Public Health, Eds. Kingori, P. and Gerrets, R.