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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.
​​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 can solve moral coordination problems, 
  • under what conditions willfully undertaking risky activities diminishes one'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:
  • Mar 3 -- University of York  (Philosophy Colloquium) - 'The Political Value of Transparency in Policing' (work in progress)
  • Mar 12 -- Workshop on Ethics in Criminal Justice AI, University of Florida (organized by Duncan Purves, Jeremy Davis): Predictive Policing and a Fair Distribution Risk
  • April 12 -- University of California, San Diego (Political Theory Colloquium): TBD
  • May 19 - Surrey Centre for Law & Philosophy: TBD
  • May 27 -- St Andrews (Epistemology Colloquium Series): Might we have a right to Be Believed?
​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