Email: rimabasu@usc.edu​

I am a PhD Candidate in philosophy at USC. I am also a graduate fellow and the public humanities program director with the Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics, and managing editor of Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. Beginning July 1st 2018, I will be an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College.

My research is at the intersection of ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of race.

I argue that a belief’s justification is determined partly by morality, and not by strength of evidence alone. We live in a society that has been, and continues to be, shaped by racist attitudes and institutions. As a result, the evidence might be stacked in favour of racist beliefs. I focus primarily on beliefs about individuals on the basis of racial generalizations as part of the struggle against racism is the struggle to be treated as an individual. This struggle to be treated as an individual, I argue, is not limited to our actions toward historically oppressed groups, but includes our beliefs about them. Accordingly, the question of what individuals should believe is a moral one.

QUICK LINKS:

• Click here for my CV.
• Click here for my dissertation summary.
• Click here for my research statement.
• ​Click here for my teaching statement.​

​Alternatively, you can see pictures of the best dog by clicking here.

Photo by Gabbrielle Johnson. 
​Painting of Philippa Foot by Renee Bolinger.

Last updated: March 26 2018