Background
Roderick was born in Abilene, Texas, son of (by his own description) a "con-man" and a "beautician".
Roderick was born in Abilene, Texas, son of (by his own description) a "con-man" and a "beautician".
Roderick first studied communication (self-admittedly in order to focus on anti-establishment student and anti-war activities), but moved after a few years towards philosophy.
He was a teacher of philosophy at several universities, where he was much revered by many students for a Socratic style of teaching combined with a brash and often humorous approach. His breakthrough into wider circles came with his engagement with The Teaching Company where he recorded several memorable lecture series. Rick Roderick died in 2002 from a congestive heart condition.
He received his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, did post-graduate work at Baylor University and finally earned his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Texas.
After 1977 Roderick taught at Baylor University, the University of Texas, Duke University and National University in Los Los Angeles He was the recipient of the Oldright Fellowship at the University of Texas and served as associate editor to The Pawn Review and Current Perspectives in Social Theory.
He presented more than 25 papers, and published 13 reviews and literary criticisms, as well as numerous articles in professional journals. Roderick was the author of the book Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory (1986), which has been translated to German as: Habermas und das Problem der Rationalität.
Eine Werkmonographie (1989).
1986, Rick Roderick - Reading Derrida Politically (Contra Rorty), PRAXIS International, issue: 4 / 1986
"Mill on Liberty", guest lecture from "The Great Minds of Western Intellectual Tradition" (1st ed), Participant IV, Philosophy in the Epoch of Ideology, 2000.
He served as editor of the Baylor Philosophy Journal and was a member of the Phi Sigma Tau National Honor Society of Philosophy.
