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Todd Hedrick

Assistant Professor

hedrickt@msu.edu

My research focuses on contemporary social/political philosophy, the philosophy of law, and critical theory. I also have interests in ethics, the history of political philosophy, and 19th and 20th century European philosophy.

I am currently finishing a monograph on John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas's approaches to political philosophy, and some papers on the relationship between legal objectivity, the constitutional rule of law, and democracy.

Recent publications:

"Coping with Constitutional Indeterminacy: Rawls and Habermas," Philosophy and Social Criticism, forthcoming.

"Race, Difference, and Anthropology in Kant's Cosmopolitanism," Journal of the History of Philosophy 46, no. 2 (2008).

"Constitutionalization and Democratization: Habermas on Postnational Governance," Social Theory and Practice 33, no. 3 (2007)

E-mail: hedrickt@msu.edu

Contact Me

Classes

PHL 200:Introduction to Philosophy

Section 4 SS10

This course is an introduction to some of the important texts, problems, and methods in Western philosophy.

PHL 357:The Philosophy of Karl Marx

Section 1 SS10

This course aims to understand and critically engage with the thought of Karl Marx, one of the most brilliant—not to mention influential and controversial—philosophers and social theorist in the Western tradition. We will consider the question of Marx’s contemporary relevance, as well as try to understand what is distinctive about his thought. Though popularly known as one of the founding figures of the modern communist movement, his thought is quite multi-faceted. We will consider a) Marx’s conception of philosophy as a practical and emancipatory activity, b) his conception and method of c

PHL 350:Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy

Section 1 FS09

This course will examine a number of the main figures, texts, and ideas in the history of Western political thought. We will consider such issues as: the relationship between individual rights and democracy, the nature and extent of political obligations, the threat of and the value of freedom as compared to other potentially competing goods like community, progress, security, etc., as well as the role of political institutions in both perpetuating and overcoming race, gender, and economic oppression. After a looking at Plato and Aristotle’s classical political theories, we will turn to the

PHL 850:Seminar in Social and Political Philosophy

Section 1 FS09

The Political Philosophy of Rawls and Habermas