Episode Episode

Episode #104 - Sartre and Camus Pt. 5 - Consciousness is Freedom

Episode #104 - Sartre and Camus Pt. 5 - Consciousness is Freedom

This episode explores Sartre’s radical idea that consciousness is freedom—an insight grounded in his belief that consciousness is not a container or fixed essence but an active, dynamic nothingness. Rather than being trapped in the mind, Sartre argues that consciousness is always directed toward the world, unified with it, and responsible for introducing “negation”—the awareness of what is not. Through vivid metaphors and comparisons to thinkers like Descartes, Heidegger, and Husserl, the episode highlights Sartre’s distinction between being-in-itself (the inert, objective world) and being-for-itself (consciousness). This framework explains our experiences of absence, choice, and emotional response. Examples like the gambler, the edge of a cliff, or getting angry in traffic reveal how we constantly choose who we become—and how we often deny this freedom by blaming the unconscious or emotions. But for Sartre, even these feelings are strategies, and recognizing our responsibility is what makes us truly free, though it often brings with it a deep sense of anguish.

Further Reading:

  • Sartre: Consciousness, Freedom, Bad Faith by Gary Cox (2014)​

  • Sartre For Beginners by Donald D. Palmer (2007)​

  • At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell (2016)​

See the full transcript here.

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Episode Episode

Episode #103 - Sartre and Camus Pt. 4 - The Quest For Certainty

Episode #103 - Sartre and Camus Pt. 4 - The Quest For Certainty

This episode explores the philosophical journey from Descartes to Sartre, tracing how the modern quest for certainty evolved into a deeper inquiry into human consciousness and existence. It begins with Descartes’ attempt to ground knowledge in clear and distinct ideas, introducing a rigorous method aimed at eliminating philosophical speculation. Kant challenges Descartes by arguing that our minds actively shape experience, setting the stage for idealism. As skepticism about reason and universal truths grows, thinkers like Kierkegaard and Nietzsche shift focus toward individual experience. Husserl responds by founding phenomenology, emphasizing the structures of consciousness while distinguishing between the scientific “natural attitude” and the philosophical “phenomenological attitude.” Sartre, influenced by both Husserl and Heidegger, rejects the idea of consciousness as a passive container and instead sees it as dynamic, intentional, and inseparable from the world. He questions the philosophical tendency to explain individuals through abstract categories, emphasizing instead lived experience, freedom, and responsibility—laying the groundwork for existentialism.

Further Reading:

  • At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell (2016)

  • Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy by William Barrett (1958)

  • A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism by Hubert L. Dreyfus and Mark A. Wrathall (2006)

See the full transcript here.

Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.

I could never do this without your support! :)

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Episode Episode

Episode #102 - Heidegger Pt. 3 - Authenticity

Episode #102 - Heidegger Pt. 3 - Authenticity

In this episode, the focus is on Heidegger’s critique of the modern philosophical tendency to view the world as an object to be known rather than a context we’re fundamentally embedded in. Building on the legacy of Descartes, Heidegger challenges the subject-object framework and instead asks us to examine what it is like to be a human being. Central to this inquiry is the concept of Dasein—a being that both questions its own existence and is constantly engaged in meaningful activity. Heidegger outlines three forces that shape what Dasein cares about—facticity (the conditions we’re born into), fallenness (how we adopt behaviors from others), and existentiality (our unique potential for choice). Living authentically, then, means confronting these influences and taking responsibility for our own existence, even in the face of mortality. Heidegger argues that truly facing death reveals who we are beyond social roles or surface-level identities, and he calls on us to return to our cultural traditions with clarity, living deliberately rather than passively.

Further Reading:

  • Being and Time by Martin Heidegger (1927)​

  • Heidegger: A Guide for the Perplexed by David Cerbone (2008)​

  • Heidegger's Being and Time: An Introduction by William Blattner (2006)​

See the full transcript here.

Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.

I could never do this without your support! :)

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Episode Episode

Episode #101 - Heidegger Pt. 2 - Science and Technology

Episode #101 - Heidegger Pt. 2 - Science and Technology

In this episode, the discussion revisits the roots of Western philosophy to examine how early thinkers like Plato and Aristotle, in their efforts to make sense of a mysterious and chaotic world, laid the groundwork for a scientific and philosophical tradition that, according to Heidegger, gradually obscured the true nature of being. Heidegger challenges the longstanding tendency to view existence through detached, objective methods—treating the world as a collection of entities measured and manipulated rather than something we are intrinsically part of. He argues that modern technology intensifies this alienation by turning nature—and even people—into resources, reinforcing a utilitarian mindset that strips the world of mystery and meaning. Heidegger urges a return to a more original, immersive mode of questioning: not what a human being is, but what it’s like to be a human being. At the heart of this shift lies Dasein—our unique capacity to question existence itself, a capacity that modern society, fixated on control and utility, increasingly suppresses.

Further Reading:

  • Being and Time by Martin Heidegger (1927)​

  • Heidegger: An Introduction by Richard Polt (1999)​

  • Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Inwood (2000)

See the full transcript here.

Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.

I could never do this without your support! :)

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Episode Episode

Episode #100 - Heidegger Pt. 1 - Phenomenology and Dasein

Episode #100 - Heidegger Pt. 1 - Phenomenology and Dasein

This episode begins with a humorous philosophical anecdote—Plato’s definition of a human being as a “featherless biped” and Diogenes’ infamous rebuttal with a plucked chicken—introducing ontology: the study of existence and what it means to “be.” From there, the discussion traces the development of ontological inquiry through Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology, a method focused not on the external world, but on the structures of human consciousness and how we experience reality. Husserl’s goal was to reach certainty by “bracketing” assumptions and identifying the essence of experiences. However, his student, Martin Heidegger, found phenomenology lacking for failing to address existence itself. Heidegger reorients philosophy around the concept of Dasein—“being there”—arguing that we are not detached observers of the world but beings fundamentally embedded in it. This ontological shift challenges the long-standing subject-object framework of Western thought and suggests that many global and philosophical issues stem from neglecting these foundational questions. Heidegger insists that understanding what it means to be is not esoteric but vital, as it underpins every other question we ask about the world.

Further reading:

  • The Basic Problems of Phenomenology by Martin Heidegger (1982)​

  • Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology by Edmund Husserl (1960)​

  • Being and Time by Martin Heidegger (1927)

See the full transcript here.

Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.

I could never do this without your support! :)

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Episode Episode

Episode #090 - Nietzsche Pt. 1 - God is Dead And So Is Captain Morgan

Episode #090 - Nietzsche Pt. 1 - God is Dead And So Is Captain Morgan

On this episode, we take a look at Friedrich Nietzsche and his views on the role of religion and alcohol as calming influences.

See the full transcript here.

Nietzsche.jpg

Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.

I could never do this without your support! :)

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