Philosophical joy radiates from the East.

There is no single answer to this question, but exploring, disseminating, and addressing social issues through philosophy, as in the philosophy classes organized by the Eastern School, is a suitable, albeit tentative, but courageous, and promising path forward.

Recently, the Eastern School of Philosophy, chaired by Dr. Giap Van Duong and Master Hoang Phu Phuong, organized a course on Existentialism in Modern Life. The course, held over a short four-day period, focused on the perspectives and works of philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, and Kierkegaard. The course was taught by leading philosopher Bui Van Nam Son and other researchers including Duong Anh Xuan, Hoang Phu Phuong, Truong Trong Hieu, Nguyen Sy Nguyen, Pham Dieu Huong, and Giap Van Duong.

Niềm vui triết học lan toả từ Trường Đông

Philosopher Bui Van Nam Son (seated) with his fellow students.

As Trường Đông himself stated, this is a place that "not only provides knowledge, but also creates a shared space for learning, debating, and practicing philosophy in life...", and the students who come here share a common spiritual thread: a love for philosophy. Their intellectual baggage varies; some have been here since the beginning, while others have been lost in the world of philosophy for decades... but all are burdened with the thought of what life would be like with, or without, philosophy?

Here, the figures of giants like Sartre, Heidegger, Nietzsche… will appear one after another through the lectures. How did Sartre, who refused the Nobel Prize in Literature, ascend to the philosophical “throne” at that time? How did Heidegger make people feel apathy and coldness? And what kind of thoughts did Nietzsche use to shake human consciousness when confronting nothingness…? And not only that, a panorama of philosophical history is also presented through the interconnectedness of the history of existential thought.

Humans can indeed live and grow without philosophy, but is it too arrogant to say that one becomes more "human" by living and growing with philosophy? It would be impractical to seek a precise answer like mathematics, but that is precisely why many students travel from Ho Chi Minh City to the North during cold, rainy days to find an answer, hoping to prevent this uncertainty from spreading at the Eastern School.

In reality, many different organizations still hold lectures and decentralized philosophy classes today. However, what makes Dong School unique is the continuity of philosophical reflection. There is no interruption; both lecturers and students continue the train of thought and inquiry together at all times and in all places throughout the course. The lectures and stories outside of class are not merely pure philosophy but also serve as warnings about the harsh realities of contemporary existence. This includes the externalization of ontology when discussing Camus's absurdity in the present day, as presented by Pham Dieu Huong; the reminder of contemporary violence and indifference viewed through the lens of Heidegger, as presented by Duong Anh Xuan… and many other contents reflecting contemporary pressures as the boundaries of philosophy are continuously expanding. Such a model of academic activity must have been eagerly awaited by many, and the presence of the Eastern School is truly a case of "Only now seeing it, but already feeling certain about it for days."

There are countless paths to philosophy, and Trường Đông is one of them. For many reasons, some people will come and go, while others will stay, but no matter what, even if we don't reach the ultimate conclusion together, there will surely still be a magnificent realm of philosophy within each other!

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