Todd Hedrick

hedrickt@msu.edu
(517) 355-4490

FacultyPhilosophy

Professor
Social and Political Philosophy; Critical Theory; Philosophy of Law

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Todd Hedrick works on contemporary social/political philosophy, the philosophy of law, and Frankfurt School critical theory. He also has interests the history of political philosophy, and 19th and 20th century European philosophy (especially Hegel and Nietzsche). He is the author of two books: Reconciliation and Reification: Freedom’s Semblance and Actuality from Hegel to Contemporary Critical Theory (Oxford, 2019), and Rawls and Habermas: Reason, Pluralism, and the Claims of Political Philosophy (Stanford, 2010). He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Northwestern University in 2006 and is currently available to work with graduate students.

Publications

Book publications:

Reconciliation and Reification: Freedom’s Semblance and Actuality from Hegel to Contemporary Critical Theory (Oxford University Press, 2019)

Rawls and Habermas: Reason, Pluralism, and the Claims of Political Philosophy (Stanford University Press, 2010).

Other Recent Publications:

“What Does Reification Conceal? Will and Norm in Lukács, Schmitt, and Kelsen,” Metodo: International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy (forthcoming).

“Fear of Nature, Fear of Self, Fear of Society: Psychic Defense Mechanisms in Adorno’s Theory of Culture and Experience,” European Journal of Philosophy (2021): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12656

“Ego Autonomy, Reconciliation, and the Duality of Instinctual Nature in Adorno and Marcuse,” Constellations 23, no. 2 (2016): 180-191.

“Reification in and Through Law: Elements of a Theory in Marx, Lukács, and Honneth,” European Journal of Political Theory 13, no. 2 (2014): 178-198.

“Reifying and Reconciling Class Conflict: From Hegel’s Estates to Habermas’ Interchange Roles,” European Journal of Social Theory 16, no. 4 (2013): 522-540.

“Democratic Constitutionalism as Mediation: The Decline and Recovery of an Idea in Critical Social Theory,” Constellations 19, no. 3 (2012): 383-400.

University News

Philosophy Student Gives New Perspective on the Nature of Marx and Nietzsche
Published May 13, 2022 in College of Arts & Letters
Izzy Taylor Headshot
As a Philosophy major, Izzy Taylor studied how the philosophies of Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche share traits in some areas and how they differ in others. For Taylor, this research began as a…Read now »