French scholar gives presentation on late professor Tran Duc Thao

This morning, November 9, 2010, the Faculty of Philosophy organized a presentation on the late Professor Tran Duc Thao with the participation of two French scholars: Jean-Pierre Han and Jean-François Poirier.Speakers: Jean-François Poirier, translator, philosopher, writer, expert on modern German and French philosophy, and Jean-Pierre Han, literary and theater critic, founder and director of the theater magazine Frictions, Théâtres-écritures, editor-in-chief of the magazine Lettres Françaises. The presentations of the two scholars were mainly related to the research and theoretical works on philosophy of Professor Tran Duc Thao. In his presentation, critic Jean-Pierre Han introduced the formation and development process of the French literary magazine (Les Lettres Francaises) and the plan to carry out a special topic on Vietnamese philosopher Tran Duc Thao that the magazine is preparing for publication. He expressed his hope that Vietnamese researchers will participate in collaborating on this topic. Philosopher Jean-François Poirier presented in detail the philosophical works of Professor Tran Duc Thao. He gave very specific analysis and instructions on the work "Phenomenology and Dialectical Materialism" by Professor Tran Duc Thao. In addition, he also mentioned one of the most controversial aspects of science in Professor Tran Duc Thao's work, which is the theory of the origin of language. Many discussions of lecturers, graduate students and students of the Faculty of Philosophy on the research works and scientific contributions of Professor Tran Duc Thao in Vietnam and France were exchanged by the two scholars. At the meeting with the two scholars, the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Philosophy also proposed some cooperation in research on Professor Tran Duc Thao such as: organizing a scientific conference on Professor Tran Duc Thao, translating and republishing works and books of Professor Tran Duc Thao in both France and Vietnam, and collecting research works of Tran Duc Thao. The late Professor Tran Duc Thao was once the head of the History Department, the University of General Sciences, now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU). He has published dozens of books domestically and internationally. He has translated and edited many classic works of Marxist philosophy. He studied, researched and lived in both France and Vietnam. Many of his works were published simultaneously in both countries. In 2000, he was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize by the Vietnamese State.