Marshall Rick 'Ricky' Roderick

(June 16, 1949 ~ January 18, 2002)

Rick, son of Marshall Edwin Roderick and Elwynne Alice Reddell, married Irene Laverne Hixson and buried in Tuscola Cemetery, Tuscola, Taylor County, Texas.

Marshall Rick "Ricky" Roderick was born on June 16, 1949, in Abilene, Texas, his father, Marshall, was 37 and his mother, Elwynn, was 32. He married Irene Laverne Hixson on December 27, 1971, in Travis, Texas. He died on January 18, 2002, at the age of 52.

Rick Roderick was the father of four sons, a friend and teacher to hundreds of people around the country who remembered his life and influence with great love and affection.

For the past 24 years, he taught philosophy and critical theory at Duke University, UCLA, USC, Baylor University, University of Texas, Austin and Austin Community College.

He was nationally recognized for his classroom charisma and his ability to inspire, amuse and challenge students. Because of his unique talents as a teacher and thinker, he was selected to give philosophy lectures in the Teaching Company's highly acclaimed Superstar Teachers video tape series. He was the author of the book Haber-mas and the Foundations of Critical Theory (1986) as well as numerous articles, essays and book reviews. he also presented over 24 papers both here and abroad.

His friends and family remember Rick for his hilarious sense of humor, political passion ad captivating personal presence. he loved film, plays, art, music and books of all genres, and he had the remarkable ability to recite long passages from the works he admired. He was a superb cook and an astute observer of sports, especially fond of the Longhorns and Duke basketball. He loved animated conversation and debate and there was no one better at telling a story.

He lived in the Ramsey Park neighborhood with is sons and never locked his door. Friends and children filled is life, dropping by at all hours to discuss Marx and James Joyce, listen to Bob Dylan and play chess and video games.

He observed, set and believed in few rules. he cherished a good laugh, hated injustice, and smoked three packs of cigarettes a day.

Rick Roderick was born and raised in Tuscola, Texas, where he became an all-star high school baseball catcher. He declined to play college baseball once he discovered his lifelong passion for Russians novelists, German philosophers and the Rolling Stones.

He earned a bachelor's degree in speech and philosophy at UT in 1971, where he met his future wife, the artist Irene Hixson. He fell in love with Austin, which would always hold a special place in is heart. Rick went on to earn a master's degree in philosophy from Baylor and then returned to the University of Texas for his doctorate in philosophy.

For nine years he taught at Duke University, where he became a magnetic campus personality recognized for his teaching excellence and political activism. While at Duke, Rick fought vigorously for the black faculty initiative, despite the consequences. The initiative was passed ad, as Rick expected, he did not make his bid for tenure. After a brief sojourn teaching in California, he returned with his family to Austin in 1996, and began to teach at the University of Texas and Austin Community College.

Rick suffered from asthma, osteoporosis and pulmonary disorder. He died in his sleep on Friday, January 18, 2002, at the age of 52.

He is survived by his wife, Irene and his four sons, Marshall, Travis, Taylor and Max. He is also survived by numerous colleagues and good friends who loved him dearly and valued his friendship and by hundreds of students throughout the country whose lives were changed forever by the fervor and wisdom of a great teacher.

Friends, family and loved ones gathered at Ramsey Park on Monday, January 21, 2002, to celebrate Rick's life through stories and song. He would have been enormously ratified that his companions honored him on the holiday devoted to Martin Luther King, a man whose dream Rick shared and one of his beloved American heroes.

A graveside service is planned for February 2, 2002 at 3:00p.m. in Tuscola, Texas.

Local arrangements will be handled by Fry and Bartlett Funeral Home. Arrangements by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar, Austin.

The following originated on a website dedicated to Rick Roderick by his youngest son Max Roderick In Memorium - Rick Roderick   

At the beginning of the memorium Max shares a story from Rick's autobiography regarding an accident that caused a death in Buffalo Gap as well as a hunting trip with Mickey Sansom.

Rick Roderick was born in Abilene, Texas on June 16, 1949, and received his bachelor’s degree at University of Texas, Austin, Texas. He did post-graduate work at Baylor University, and earned his Ph. D. at University of Texas, Austin, Texas. From 1977 to 1978, he was the editor of the Baylor Philosophy Journal, and from 1977 to 1979 he was a member of the Phi Sigma Tau National Honor Society of Philosophy. 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 was the undergraduate director of the Duke Marxism and Society Program. He is the author of the book Habermas and the Foundation of Critical Theory (1986), as well as numerous articles in professional journals. He has presented over 24 papers, and published 13 reviews and literary criticisms. From 1977 to 1993, he taught Philosophy, first at Baylor, then University of Texas and then at Duke University.

His areas of specialization were Marx and Marxism, Social and Political philosophy, Critical Theory (Habermas and the Frankfurt School), 19th Century Philosophy, and Contemporary Continental Philosophy. He also taught Ethics, Logic, History of Modern Philosophy, Aesthetics and Existentialism.

He was a four-time nominee for the Alumni Undergraduate Distinguished Professor Teaching Award and has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute as the best teacher in his field. His “The Philosophy of Human Values” lecture series has been the best selling videotape in the history of academia. He has been published in five countries. His “Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory” is an internationally recognized standard in the field. His work has been studied and reviewed worldwide–India, China, Denmark, Germany, etc.

Rick was controversially denied tenure at Duke University in 1993. Very little is known about the circumstances or what happened next. He died on January 18, 2002 of congestive heart failure.

Max continues with... I hope you enjoy these lectures as much as I do… I have listened to them countless times. As the years go by they only become more poignant and eerily prophetic. Bear in mind that the internet and smart phones did not exist when these lectures were recorded.

Guidebook: Philosophy and Human Values (1990)

Lecture One: Socrates and the Life of Inquiry
Lecture Two: Epicureans, Stoics, Skeptics
Lecture Three: Kant and the Path to Enlightenment
Lecture Four: Mill on Liberty
Lecture Five: Hegel and Modern Life
Lecture Six: Nietzsche: Knowledge and Belief
Lecture Seven: Kierkegaard and the Contemporary Spirit
Lecture Eight: Philosophy and Postmodern Culture

Guidebook: Nietzsche and the Postmodern Condition (1991)

Lecture One: Nietzsche as Myth and Mythmaker
Lecture Two: Nietzsche on Truth and Lie
Lecture Three: Nietzsche as Master of Suspicion and Immoralist
Lecture Four: The Death of God
Lecture Five: The Eternal Recurrence
Lecture Six: The Will to Power
Lecture Seven: Nietzsche as Artist
Lecture Eight: Nietzsche’s Progeny

Guidebook: The Self Under Siege – Philosophy in the 20th Century (1993)

Lecture One: The Masters of Suspicion
Lecture Two: Heidegger and the Rejection of Humanism
Lecture Three: Sartre and the Roads to Freedom
Lecture Four: Marcuse and One-Dimensional Man
Lecture Five: Habermas and the Fragile Dignity of Humanity
Lecture Six: Foucault and the Disappearance of the Human
Lecture Seven: Derrida and the Ends of Man
Lecture Eight: Fatal Strategies