Tran Duc Thao's Successes in Human Problem Research

oneself compared to those around. In the high stage of primitive society, the Khon people, the community relationship expanded with members giving gifts to each other, that is, an equal exchange. At this time, the self-consciousness of each party exchanging creates the consciousness of myself , in which I perceive myself as equal, unified with you , and I also perceive you as equal, unified with me . Tran Duc Thao calls this the psychological structure of personality (structure psychique de la personnalité) , which includes character (caractère) , it synthesizes the characteristics of the development process of each child from self-consciousness to consciousness with those around him .

With the ability to explore and learn new things, children gradually learn to give and share their toys and belongings with other children. Giving shows that the child sees other children as equal to himself, and this is obviously the premise for giving to each other or exchanging items that takes place the following year. In the following years, children organize themselves into small groups. Each group often exchanges good methods for each other, and that equal exchange makes the child aware of his human status. From there we see that the ability to develop fairness and equality is the development of equality between rights and obligations. From there, a system of equality among people is gradually formed [See 110, p.87]. The realization of equality in the initial relationship of exchanging goods is the premise for equality in the community, each person participating in the work of the tribe by taking on their responsibilities. That exchange and equality are trained, passed down through generations, becoming a part of the common human nature later on, always wanting to have equality in all fields, all issues. People always want fairness. When an individual understands his rights and obligations in the collective, he can shape his mission in society, from here arises the desire to explore and promote his own qualities, creating standards in society.

Third, unleash the capacity to connect and cooperate with other individuals to create collective and community strength.

Coming from the origin of humans as animals, humans in the early stages of history had the ability to hunt at a more complete level, a division of labor at a primitive level. Tran Duc Thao cited the example of the Khoe people who went hunting and brought back a game animal to butcher, there was a division of labor, some people were in charge of hitting,

The person in charge places the animal in a good position to facilitate the butchering: “The above tasks are obviously coordinated between people according to a collective scheme that has been sketched out in advance according to habits acquired from previous experiences” [110, p.62]. Along with communicating signals to each other, they demonstrate a combination with each other to achieve the best results in their butchering work.

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Regarding the formation of connections and cooperation between individuals in labor, creating community strength, Ph. Engels wrote: “The formation of labor has contributed to tightening the relationship between members of society with each other, by multiplying cases of mutual assistance and cooperation, and making clearer in each person the awareness of the benefits of this cooperation” [Quoted from 110, p.66]. Further clarifying Ph. Engels's point of view, Tran Duc Thao analyzed the cooperation and connection of people formed in the labor process, especially in difficult situations, differences, and conflicts between individuals in handling current situations. By handling those situations, people create the ability to connect with each other, creating collective strength to complete common work. The strength of solidarity is many times greater than the strength of individuals. It can completely create enough strength to break the degeneration of unsuitable societies. Tran Duc Thao borrowed the words of C. Marx in Capital , an example is that in capitalist society, when the bourgeoisie exploits more and more heavily, "the resistance of the working class always grows and becomes more and more disciplined, united and organized due to the very mechanism of capitalist production" [Quoted from 118, p.72]. History has proven that the strength of solidarity of the proletariat is enough to smash the capitalist society that was completely degenerated at that time.

And in the process of people connecting and cooperating with each other, it also creates for people the ability to teach and educate themselves by creating knowledge structures: "They created these knowledge structures under the promotion of the production development process in the original social community of the Paleolithic era and gradually transmitted it to the next generations" [110, p.96].

CHAPTER 3 SUMMARY

The human problem in Tran Duc Thao's philosophy is all that is of humans and for humans. What is a human? Where does it come from? What mission does it carry out? Where will it go?, etc. These are questions that humans have asked themselves since ancient times.

Tran Duc Thao has very early researched and explained with basis the origin - the formation of human with the evolutionary process from animal to human by the transition from nervous system to mental system; the formation of the first human qualities such as personality inheritance and psychological structure; the formation of language and consciousness; individual consciousness and collective consciousness, intellectual consciousness; the formation of personality as a human being who fully develops social human qualities.

With the above results, Tran Duc Thao convincingly proves the characteristics of social human beings. Here he systematically presents the viewpoint of C. Marx: "Human nature is the sum of social relations", on the one hand, affirming the scientific nature of human beings of Marxist philosophy; on the other hand, refuting the viewpoint of "Marxist philosophy without human beings" of the Althusser school. With the dialectical materialist method, using data from ancient anthropology, archeology, and psychology, he convincingly argues about the common human being (as a species) and the individual human being (specific individual); that there is not only class human being, but before there was class human being, there was the common human being; that it was class relations that formed the class nature of the individual; it was class society that made the personality (nature) of the new human being dependent.

Following that logic, Tran Duc Thao presents a coherent content about alienated humans in a class society and the issue of human alienation in that society. To present this content convincingly, he presents the content about human nature - considering human nature as the root (the common human nature), wherever humans go, they carry it with them. But in a class society, human nature is deformed, losing itself. The mission of mankind is to do everything to regain human nature - to de-alienate humans. Because human nature is the crystallization of all human qualities, from physical to mental, from consciousness to personality... so it is the entity that carries all human energy, potential, and strength. Humans must fight to de-alienate, at the same time build conditions and environments for humans to regain their nature, to develop all their inherent potential.

CHAPTER 4

SUCCESSES AND LIMITATIONS IN TRAN DUC THAO'S RESEARCH ON HUMAN ISSUES

4.1. Tran Duc Thao's successes in human problem research

4.1.1. Choosing human issues and approaches, research methods

4.1.1.1. Correctness in choosing human problems as research objects

By choosing the human problem as the object of research, Tran Duc Thao has hit the needs, demands, and common philosophical mission; it is also highly appreciated, because this is the result of a search and experiment full of intelligence, enthusiasm, and humanity, and finally, has brought many important scientific achievements. Tran Duc Thao's philosophical career left Vietnamese and world philosophy not only valuable philosophical products, but also meaningful guidance on the purpose of research, searching for truth, discovering and building theoretical and practical values, serving human life.

Having early exposure and working in the Western ideological and philosophical environment, Tran Duc Thao passionately researched from ancient philosophy to I. Kant, Hegel, phenomenology and existentialism, then to the dialectical materialism of Marxism. It was first of all a process of searching and discovering the truth, including philosophical truth and more importantly, the search for research objects that were suitable and useful for life.

Philosophers always want to surpass their predecessors, which is proven through the stories of Plato, Aristotle, etc. Famous contemporary philosophers such as Jean Paul Sartre, Kojève, Althusser, etc. also always want to inherit and surpass their predecessors. As someone who was formally trained in the West, Tran Duc Thao certainly also wanted to become a contributor through his career. According to common logic, after creating a reputation from Phenomenology and Dialectical Materialism, Tran Duc Thao's path to development was money and fame. But that was not the case, Tran Duc Thao gave up phenomenology, did not do a doctorate and did not have good living conditions in the West. This shows in him a direction, a passion, a desire to conquer science, to bring philosophy to serve life.

Studying Marxist philosophy and Marxism-Leninism, Tran Duc Thao discovered something of great significance: Dialectical materialism is an effective tool for perceiving the world (nature, society, and human beings). But the discovery is more important to

For him, Marxist philosophy and Marxism-Leninism are philosophies, are doctrines that serve life and society. According to him, metaphysics and phenomenology take the world as an object of study as an end in itself, the epistemology of phenomenology is separate from society and escapes from life. Existentialism goes very deeply into the human spiritual world, but its purpose seems to only discuss problems of distant phenomena, not caring about the real life of people. With that awareness, in the end, Tran Duc Thao chose the problem of human beings - the problem that can be said to be the most fundamental, important, and quintessential that philosophy needs to study and solve.

Right from the beginning of his philosophical career, Tran Duc Thao always thought about the nature and object of philosophy. He once asked the question: Where will philosophy go? [114] . And as early as 1947-1948, when teaching at the D'Ulm Pedagogical College and the Sèvres Pedagogical College, presenting on the phenomenology of Husserl and I. Kant, Hegel, he published an article in the Journal of Metaphysics and Ethics ( Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale ) about the Marxist view of history, endorsing the principles of historical materialism.

Therefore, since 1950, Tran Duc Thao focused on studying Marxist philosophy and Marxism-Leninism, especially dialectical materialism and historical materialism. He studied Marxist philosophy on the nature of the world, the nature of society and the nature of man, studying the laws of motion and development of society and man on the basis of the worldview and dialectical materialism methodology. Especially during the period when he returned to Vietnam to participate in the resistance war, serving the Ho Chi Minh government with the purpose of contributing philosophy to the struggle for national liberation, Tran Duc Thao was able to directly and specifically study Vietnamese society and people. And in the last years of his life, when his philosophical awareness had matured, imbued with real life, Tran Duc Thao published works of high humanistic scientific value, which were research works on society, on man, on human life, on life. His works were all developed from the perspective of Marxism-Leninism, but clearly showed his own way.

Finding the right philosophical path has led to Tran Duc Thao's choice to study the human problem, which is consistent with the history of the development of human philosophical thought, as Socrates once said: Man should be aware of himself. No matter how far that classic philosophical sentence leads, it must eventually return to finding man, answering questions for human philosophy. That is, no matter what we study, what object in the world, in the end man is

return to self-awareness. Marxist philosophy clearly states: natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, technical sciences and technology, etc. must ultimately satisfy the needs set by humans, serve humans, expand human awareness, activities and livelihoods. The results of cognition and the process of developing philosophical thought of that cognition process of philosopher Tran Duc Thao are also consistent with the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Vietnam: science is to serve society, develop society and develop humans.

In 1951, in his Phenomenology and Dialectical Materialism , Tran Duc Thao criticized himself for being out of touch and disconnected from life: “In the concrete analyses… the method wanted to create materialism but was lost in the polished tones of dual phenomenology – Husserl and Hegel. However, the position and principles were clearly affirmed, at least philosophically, which made me decide to return to Vietnam. I had to make life consistent with philosophy, to complete a practical action that responded to the theoretical conclusions in my book” [118, pp. 12-13].

The process of researching, searching, discovering, and creating philosophy goes from phenomenology, existential philosophy to dialectical materialism, then to human research, the effort to explore and create to find the origin of human beings, the process of forming human qualities, ethical factors, culture, aesthetics, human values, personality values in the philosophical research achievements of Tran Duc Thao gives a meaningful message, that is, in the end, we must research human issues, must research and take research results about it to serve the self-affirmation, self-development of human beings and the development of society - the living environment and conditions for human maturity.

Tran Duc Thao not only abandoned Husserl's phenomenology to return to Marxist philosophy and Marxism-Leninism, not only left the purely existential philosophy with its physical and chemical natures. With a new awareness, Tran Duc Thao finally entered the middle of life, entered human life, social life, the life of each individual in the community. Later, when philosophy had permeated deeply, becoming his flesh and blood, Tran Duc Thao devoted all his heart to research to find the social nature, to serve life, the revolutionary struggle to liberate the nation, liberate people, and serve the people. That was the period when he participated in the Vietnamese revolution with all the enthusiasm of a true Marxist philosopher without any private thoughts, even "bewildered in everyday life" (To Hoai) of a "traveler" [52]. Being a bewildered person

in real life, but in science it is different. His writing style shows a strong, sharp polemic spirit of a brave warrior. Little or much material is not important, for him, the passion for life in the later period is only a passion for philosophy. A philosopher with a Western background, passionate about Western philosophy, but when he realized the true nature of science and the revolutionary humanistic purpose of philosophy - philosophy is to serve life, to serve society, Tran Duc Thao devoted all his strength, intelligence, and talent to the revolution, the nation and the Vietnamese people, even when he lived in a tragic situation.

Obviously, from perception to action, Tran Duc Thao's philosophy takes humans as the center of research. His philosophy places the human problem in the central position. First, he researched and published works on aspects of the human problem, first of all the most fundamental problems such as: The act of explanation is the primitive form of sensory authentication (1966); From finger gestures to typical images (consisting of 3 parts) (1969 - 1970); The formation of humans (a collection of previous studies). The Human Problem and Non-Human Theory (1988) - the work presents almost the entire content of his human problem in a relatively systematic logic - from the origin of man, the process of transformation from animal to man, to the formation of the first human qualities, then to the formation of language and consciousness, moral qualities, human personality, the problem of man as a species and as an individual, the problem of class and class man; human alienation in society and the problem of human alienation, building and developing man. On the basis of Marxist philosophy, he clearly explained the scientific basis of class nature, human personality and man dependent on class conditions. From there, he put forward his views on the theoretical and practical struggle for human alienation, the development of inherent qualities and potentials of man.

The human problem is always associated with the philosophical mission. The basic thoughts and viewpoints on the human problem have been solved by Marxist-Leninist philosophy. However, in the history of philosophical, scientific and artistic research up to modern times, there are many viewpoints separating science from the human problem, researching science for the sake of pure science, creating art for the sake of art. For Tran Duc Thao, in the 60s - 80s of the last century, when political and social life was complicated, especially the political situation for himself, the choice of the human problem and its implementation with remarkable results should be highly appreciated. His philosophical journey

With many worries, searches, experiments, "commitments" (According to Nguyen Dinh Chu [8]), and finally a series of works containing high scientific and humanistic values, it affirms the leading position, the final position of all sciences, including philosophy - is the human problem. This is the important scientific and practical significance of the human problem in Tran Duc Thao's philosophy.

Highly appreciating Tran Duc Thao’s philosophical journey, in the article “ Philosopher Tran Duc Thao - our great pride ”, scholar Nguyen Dinh Chu wrote: “Tran Duc Thao’s philosophy can be named like that on his philosophical journey. Because the main inspiration along the philosopher’s philosophical path still takes people…, as the core center for the tool of discovery, discovery in the mindset of “every day renewed, every day renewed, again every day renewed” [8, p.27] (every day renewed).

4.1.1.2. Uniqueness in approach and method of research on human issues

Since ancient times, philosophers such as Socrates and Bielinsky have recognized that humans are endless mysteries. The study of humans has also been raised and concerned since ancient times in the history of science. However, as Lev Davidovich Trotsky deeply realized, even when all scientific problems have been solved, the mystery of humans has not been touched. It is because of that mystery that the study of human problems has been approached in many different ways: idealistic, materialistic, naive materialistic, metaphysical, and mechanical approaches. The dialectical approach has also appeared since ancient times with Heraclitus's view of the flow - no one can bathe twice in the same river! However, that is only a dialectical view, it has not been smoothly combined with materialism. Only with the philosophy of C. Marx, the dialectical materialist approach to the world in general, society and humans in particular was firmly established.

When evaluating Tran Duc Thao's research approach, Professor Nguyen Dinh Chu wrote: "He himself planted in himself a lifelong obsession to pursue and strive for, which is the thirst for thinking, the thirst for a scientific abstract thinking ability, more or less, which he already had" [8, p.31]. With that research direction, Tran Duc Thao devoted himself to contemplation, searching and discovering. He truly became a philosopher who spent his life searching for the truth. This can be said to be the starting point and also the basis for the formation of the approach and method of philosophical research in general, and research on human issues in particular, which has a special significance of philosopher Tran Duc Thao. That is shown throughout the journey of searching for the truth.

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