Tom Rockmore (1942-2026)
Tom Rockmore, professor emeritus of philosophy at Peking University and distinguished professor emeritus at Duquesne University, has died.
(The following memorial notice was written by Gabriel Gottlieb.)
Tom Rockmore, professor emeritus at Peking University, passed away on August 6th. He was known for his work on German Idealism, where he emphasized its constructivist methods in epistemology.
Tom’s dissertation, Man as Activity in Fichte and Marx, defended in 1973 at Vanderbilt University, was advised by John Lachs. Tom expanded his work on Fichte and Marx in his pioneering book Fichte, Marx, and the German Philosophical Tradition, published in 1980. As a prolific author (publishing more than 25 books), Tom wrote on a variety of philosophical topics, including ancient philosophy, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Lukács and the Frankfurt School, phenomenology, Heidegger’s Nazism, Hegel and analytic philosophy, aesthetics, and constructivist epistemology, often exploring topics years prior to their becoming popular or more mainstream within the discipline. His most recent books (published by University of Chicago Press) you can find here.
While Tom taught at a number of universities, including Yale, Fordham, Université Laval, and Wesleyan, he spent much of his career as a dedicated teacher and adviser at Duquesne University (1987-2007). In 2007, he moved to Peking University in China where in 2023 he became an Emeritus Professor.
Tom’s last philosophical presentation took place during the summer of 2024 in Rome where he discussed the works of Vico and Marx, a fitting swan song.
Tom’s wife, Sylvie, reported that he died peacefully while resting after a lunch with family. He had been dealing with health issues and retired to Nice, France where he spent his final years.