HEIDELBERG, Feb 11: German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer celebrated on Monday his 102nd birthday in frail but good health and mentally alert. The name of Gadamer, born Feb 11, 1900, is often mentioned along with German philosophy greats such as Wilhelm Dilthey, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger whom he met in 1923 and under whom he completed the second of his two doctorates.

Gadamer is best known for his important contribution to hermeneutics (the art or science of interpreting literature) through his major work, “Truth and Method”, published in 1960. The philosopher lives with his wife in Heidelberg. He has continued writing and in 1999 published his latest work, “The Beginnings of Knowledge”.

Gadamer told a visitor last week, “Man cannot live without hope — this is the only statement that I would like to continue defending without reservation.” As a professor he taught in Marburg, Leipzig and Frankfurt. In 1949 he was asked to take on Karl Jasper’s chair at Heidelberg University. He worked there until becoming professor emeritus in 1968.

After retirement he spent semesters at major universities in the United States including Vanderbilt, Catholic University of America, University of Dallas, Boston College, as well as McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.—dpa