September 26

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891) was a towering figure in Bengal’s Renaissance and a pioneering scholar of Sanskrit literature. As a professor at Fort William College, he produced critical editions of classical texts and translated Sanskrit works for wider audiences. Vidyasagar campaigned for widow remarriage and women’s education, successfully amending Hindu law. He founded Sanskrit College’s women’s section and established schools and libraries across Bengal. His scholarly rigor and humanitarian efforts advanced social reform and intellectual revival in colonial India.

Martin Heidegger was born on 26 September 1889 in Messkirch, Germany. He studied under Edmund Husserl and contributed to phenomenology. In 1927, he published Being and Time, a foundational text in existential philosophy. Heidegger held professorships at Marburg and Freiburg, mentoring generations of scholars. His concepts of Dasein and authenticity remain central to continental philosophy. His affiliation with the Nazi Party in 1933 remains a topic of scholarly debate. He died in 1976, leaving a complex legacy as one of the 20th century’s most influential thinkers.

Hans Reichenbach was a pioneer of logical empiricism and scientific philosophy. Born in 1891 in Hamburg, he helped establish the Vienna Circle, advocating for a scientific approach to philosophy. His major works include The Theory of Relativity and A Priori Knowledge (1920) and Philosophy of Space and Time (1928). After fleeing Nazi persecution, he emigrated to the United States and taught at UCLA. Reichenbach introduced key concepts in the theory of probability and the principle of the common cause. His interdisciplinary work bridged physics, mathematics, and philosophy, profoundly shaping analytic philosophy.

Tran Duc Thao was a Vietnamese-French philosopher whose scholarly work bridged Marxist theory and phenomenology. He studied at the Sorbonne and engaged deeply with the writings of Hegel, Marx and Husserl. His publications introduced critical analyses of alienation and ideology, contributing to post-war French philosophy. Tran also translated major philosophical texts into Vietnamese, fostering intellectual exchange between Europe and Asia. Throughout his career, he maintained a commitment to social justice and the role of theory in political activism.