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oh hey.

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Politics and University Center for Human Values, and associated faculty in the Department of Philosophy, at Princeton University. I am also a research fellow in the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University, in Melbourne, where I spend the months of June-July.
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​My research explores questions like
  • how uncertainty about whether others are consenting, unjustly attacking, or promising ever affects (and if so, when) whether making a mistake would violate their rights,
  • how social norms and social signaling can be leveraged to solve moral coordination problems in a society, 
  • whether (and if so when) willfully undertaking risky activities diminishes an agent's standing to complain against resulting harms or wrongs,
  • what the offensiveness of racial epithets and slurs can teach us about the semantics and pragmatics of language,
  • whether there are epistemic and/or moral problems with basing inferences about individuals on statistics about their demographic groups,
  • and whether moral considerations affect how much or what kind of evidence is needed to justify beliefs.
For more details, check out my research page.
Recent & Upcoming (Zoom) talks:
  • April 13 — University Center for Human Values LSR Fellows’ Research Seminar (Princeton, read-ahead): ‘#BelieveWomen and the Ethics of Belief’
  • May 5 — Value Theory Reading Group, (Rutgers): ‘#BelieveWomen and the Ethics of Belief’
  • May 11 — Social Externalities: A Workshop on Concepts and Applications (Princeton, convened by Marc Fleurbaey and Ravi Kanbur): ‘The Costs of Rational Stereotyping’
  • Jun 12 — Social (distance) Epistemology Series: ‘#BelieveWomen and the Ethics of Belief’
  • Jul 2 — Moral Encroachment @Home working group: ‘Could there be a Right to Be Believed?’
  • Jul 16 — Oxford Summer Lockdown Epistemology Group, ‘#BelieveWomen and the Ethics of Belief’
  • Jul 27 — Dianoia Institute Ethics Working Group (Australian Catholic University) ‘Stewards of Our Norms: The Role of Protest’
  • Aug 28 — Monash University (Colloquium) - ’#BelieveWomen and the Ethics of Belief’
  • Sept 16 — Umea University (Colloquium) - Rewriting Rights: The Social Approach
  • Dec 1 — University of Warwick Centre for Ethics, Law and Public Affairs (CELPA) seminar (read-ahead) - ‘What is the Right to an Individualized Decision?’
​past
From September 2017-July 2019, I was a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Philosophy at Australian National University. My work there focused on the moral significance of risk, as part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) project with Seth Lazar, Lara Buchak, Alan Hajek, Philip Pettit, Frank Jackson, and Katie Steele. Before that, ​I completed my Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Southern California (2017), working primarily with Jonathan Quong, Robin Jeshion, and Mark Schroeder. Before that, I completed an M.A. in philosophy at Northern Illinois University (2012), as well as bachelor's degrees in fine arts (2010) and philosophy (2009) at Biola University.

other
​In my spare time, I paint. I've started a series of portraits of philosophers, painting various famous philosophers in style that highlights themes central to the philosopher's work. You can see those paintings here. 
bolinger@princeton.edu
renee.bolinger@acu.edu.au
note: just one 'L' in 'Bolinger'

contact
Office
103 Fisher Hall
Mailing Address
​Department of Politics
Princeton University
001 Fisher Hall 
Princeton NJ
​08544-1012