Denise Ee Ting Ho | 夏依廷

Biography

Background

I was born and raised in Singapore, but have spent most of my adult life in the UK – previously, I studied at the University of Durham and am now continuing my academic journey as a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh. I specialise in 20th-century East Asian and European Continental philosophy, and am an active translator of the literature from the Buraiha (無頼派) literary circle. 

 

Qualifications

M.A. Philosophy [Distinction], University of Durham (2022 – 2023)

G.Dip. Philosophy [Distinction], University of Durham (2021 – 2022)

LLB (Hons) Law [Upper Second], University of Durham (2018 – 2021)

 

Responsibilities & affiliations

Teaching:

Philosophy Tutor 

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE) 

Memberships:

European Network of Japanese Philosophy

Durham University Continental Philosophy Research Group

Others:

Cofounder and Chief Editor of The Nighthawk Star, an (upcoming) world philosophies and literatures magazine. 

Undergraduate teaching

PHIL08019: Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

PHIL10222: Japanese Philosophy

Research summary

My current research concerns the philosophical motifs of existence, loneliness and experience within 20th -century Japanese literature, and works closely with the decadent writings of the Buraiha literary circle, with focus on the works of Sakaguchi Ango. Beyond this, I am engaged with the theoretical inquiries of phenomenology, existentialism, aesthetics and language, specifically within the context of East Asian and German schools of thought; and, have an applied interest in discussions of queerness, decolonisation, non-traditional narrative forms and transformative media.

Project activity

[PhD Project] – A Philosophy of Decadence: Reading the Buraiha (無頼派) as Existentialism

My PhD research is concerned with enlightenment in the 21st century and seeks to provide a more practical and accessible solution to the mounting issue of inauthenticity faced by our contemporary world. To do so, I look towards the decadent literature of the Buraiha (無頼派), a 20th -century Japanese literary circle; here, special focus is placed on the writings of Sakaguchi Ango. The aim of my project is to extract the philosophical motifs of existence, loneliness and experience within Ango’s literature and formalise these ideas into a new school of Japanese thought – a philosophy of decadence – which proposed enlightenment pays respect to, not only the Japanese tradition’s foundations of Buddhist impermanence, but also the prosaic, yet demanding, necessities of everyday life in our modern world.

 

Publications

Ho, D. E. T. (2024) ‘Yuko Ishihara and Steven A. Tainer, Intercultural Phenomenology: Playing with Reality’, Journal of East Asian Philosophy, 3(1-2), pp. 1-5. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43493-024-00043-w.

Ho, D. E. T. and Karamercan, A. O. (2025) ‘The Leap from Authenticity to Solicitude: Heidegger’s Poetry of Education as Letting’, in K. Drapalo, et al. Subject, Identity, and Care: Educational (Dis)closures. Leiden: Brill, pp. 93-110.

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