First Philosophy

About First Philosophy

Exploring the timeless ideas of history’s greatest thinkers, one lecture at a time. Philosophers must be eternal beginners, according to Edmund Husserl. In this podcast, we invite you to begin with us, accompanied by great lectures. Every episode dives into the rich world of phenomenology, existentialism and hermeneutics, posing and answering profound questions concerning human existence. Through these episodes, you'll get familiar with Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre, Levinas, and many others. Our first season centers around Awee Prins and his lecture series Human Conditions. To accompany you through this journey, Sonia Shvets and Kas Molenaar will provide brief interludes, insights, and introductions. Let's begin, finally! P.S. If you could do us a kindness, please press the follow button; we are very obliged! You know, for the algorithms and such. Or, if you liked our podcast, you could rate it with a few—let's, for argument's sake, say five—stars. Read more on www.StilleGeluiden.nl (http://www.stillegeluiden.nl)

Publisher

Silent Sounds

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

25 Sept 2024

Latest episode

31 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

17 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   31 Mar 2026

   E16 Levinas: The Face of the Other

   Begin with philosophy here! In the penultimate episode of First Philosophy, Awee discusses Emmanuel Levinas and his radical claim that ethics comes before everything else. Instead of understanding the world first, Levinas argues that we are immediately confronted by the “other,” whose presence places a demand on us that cannot be reduced to knowledge, interpretation, or theory. Philosophy, then, is no longer about truth or being—but about responsibility. Sonia and Kas interrupt, interpret, and unpack these ideas, translating Levinas’ dense philosophy into concrete examples and sharp discussions. Through debate, analogies, and moments of tension, they try to make sense of a thinker who resists being fully understood—while showing why his ideas still feel urgent today.

2. 

   26 Mar 2026

   E15 Gadamer: Hermeneutics

   Begin Philosophy here! In the fifteenth episode of First Philosophy, Awee continues with the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer and the idea that understanding is never neutral. Every act of interpretation begins within traditions, prejudices, and historical contexts, and according to Gadamer these are not obstacles to knowledge but the very conditions that make understanding possible. Sonia and Kas t explore the consequences of this view for philosophy and dialogue. If interpretation always exceeds our control, can we ever reach objective understanding? Let's begin, finally!

3. 

   9 Mar 2026

   E14 Truth and Method I Gadamer

   Begin with philosophy here! In the fourteenth episode Awee Prins continues our journey from Martin Heidegger to Hans-Georg Gadamer, tracing the shift from Heidegger’s analysis of technology as a way of revealing to Gadamer’s idea that we live within a fundamentally hermeneutic universe. If technology is not merely technological, then truth is not merely scientific. Kas and Sonia push the discussion further by connecting these ideas to contemporary culture — from human resource management to historical interpretation — asking what it really means to say that we are always interpreting, always historically situated, and never outside perspective. Let's begin, finally!

4. 

   3 Mar 2026

   E13 The Question Concerning Technology I Heidegger

   Begin with philosophy here! In the thirteenth episode of First Philosophy, we continue our deep dive into Martin Heidegger by reading and unpacking The Question Concerning Technology. Rather than asking whether technology is good or bad, Heidegger urges us to question it more fundamentally: what kind of world does modern technology reveal to us? From “standing reserve” and enframing to the dominance of calculative thinking, this episode explores why technology is not just a collection of tools, but an entire way of relating to beings, nature, and ourselves. As always, Kas and Sonia try to help, interject, and underscore key parts and passages. They also discuss Heidegger’s complex legacy with regard to his association with the Nazi Party and the infamous Black Notebooks. Let’s begin, finally!

5. 

   11 Feb 2026

   E12 Heidegger: From Sartre’s Humanism to Heidegger’s Turn

   Begin with philosophy here. In this episode of First Philosophy, Awee Prins begins with Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism through the lens of freedom, responsibility, bad faith, and the phenomenon of the gaze. Sartre’s insistence that we are “condemned to be free” is unpacked with care, revealing a philosophy far less nihilistic than it is often assumed to be. From the claim that there are no accidents in life to the unsettling demand that everything that happens to us is, in a profound sense, ours, Sartre’s existentialism emerges as a radical call to take responsibility for meaning itself. Only after moving through Sartre’s account of human freedom does the episode return to Martin Heidegger. Heidegger’s analysis of being-in-the-world and situated existence reframes Sartre’s existentialism, showing its deeper ontological roots and shifting the focus from individual choice alone to the structures of meaning that always already shape our experience. Throughout the episode, Sonia and Kas intercede with clarifications, objections, and contextual expansions. They connect Sartre’s analysis of the gaze to later developments in feminist theory, critical theory, and to Michel Foucault’s notion of the medical and disciplinary gaze, showing how questions about being seen evolve into analyses of power, normalization, and social control. Let's begin, finally!

6. 

   13 Jan 2026

   E11 Sartre: Hell is Other People

   In the eleventh episode of First Philosophy, Awee Prins continues with Sartre by confronting one of his most unsettling ideas: the gaze. Sartre’s claim is radical and uncomfortable — our relations to others are not grounded in empathy or harmony, but in conflict, reduction, and exposure. We move through Sartre’s famous examples — the look, shame, love, pity — and slowly arrive at a strange moment of clarity halfway through the episode: an almost awe-filled realization of just how much of our everyday life is structured by being seen, judged, and fixed by others. Along the way, Sonia and Kas (inevitably) interrupt — not to derail the argument, but to test it, resist it, and occasionally push it somewhere unexpected. Their interruptions become part of the episode’s rhythm: philosophy as something that refuses to stay neat. This episode also sets the stage for what comes next, as Sartre’s bleak account of intersubjectivity opens toward later thinkers who try — and perhaps fail — to escape the violence of the gaze. Let's begin, finally! #existentialism  #JeanPaulSartre #BeingAndNothingness #ExistencePrecedesEssence #HumanCondition #TheGaze

7. 

   30 Dec 2025

   E10 Sartre: Condemned To Be Free

   Begin with philosophy here! In the 10th episode of First Philosophy, we move from Martin Heidegger to Jean-Paul Sartre, tracing how existential philosophy shifts from structural analysis to lived drama. Where Heidegger describes the structures of existence, Sartre insists on filling them in with freedom, responsibility, conflict, and anguish. If we are thrown projects, what does that actually mean in everyday life? What does it mean to act, to choose, to flee, or to take responsibility? Sonia and Kas as always, pause, interrupt, and reflect —  we move from cafés and prison camps to novels, short stories, and philosophy lectures packed with thousands of listeners. Freedom, Sartre argues, comes with no excuses, no alibis, and no guarantees. The question is not whether we are free—but whether we dare to acknowledge it. Let's begin, finally! #existentialism  #JeanPaulSartre #BeingAndNothingness #ExistencePrecedesEssence #FreedomAndResponsibility #BadFaith #HumanCondition

8. 

   16 Dec 2025

   E09 Heidegger: Being-In-The-World

   Begin philosophy here! In the ninth episode of First Philosophy, Awee Prins is moving deeper into the existential analytic of Dasein. After introducing Heidegger’s project in earlier episodes, we now explore how being-in-the-world shows itself in everyday life: through tools, moods, language, and our relations to others. The episode also examines fallenness, the “they” (das Man), idle talk, curiosity, and ambiguity, before turning to anxiety, nothingness, being-towards-death, conscience, guilt, and resoluteness. Rather than offering advice or moral prescriptions, Heidegger’s philosophy is presented as a descriptive account of what it means to exist at all — to be a thrown project that must take up its own being. As always, Sonia and Kas pause, interrupt, and reflect — not to simplify Heidegger, but to stay with the difficulty of what he is trying to think. Let's begin, finally! #Heidegger #BeingAndTime #Philosophy #Existentialism #Moods #Anxiety #Boredom #Authenticity #BeingInTheWorld#FirstPhilosophy #ContinentalPhilosophy#ExistentialPhilosophy

9. 

   20 Jan 2025

   E08 Heidegger: Being and Time

   Dasein – Jemeinigkeit - “The essence of Dasein lies in its Existence” In this episode, Awee embarks on a slow and thoughtful exploration of Martin Heidegger's Being and Time [Sein und Seit], one of the most complex and influential works in Western philosophy. Awee addresses the importance and complexity of what Heidegger endeavours in this project; showing the structures of everyday existence, which he terms Dasein. Kas and Sonia assist the listeners in grappling with the contents of the book, as it requires an entirely new vocabulary. They also discuss two ways of interpreting one of Heidegger's most influential concepts; authenticity. Let’s begin, finally!

10. 

    25 Dec 2024

    E07 Heidegger

    The question of Being - Being as a noun - Being as an event - “You can't bracket a bullit” In this episode, Awee introduces us to Martin Heidegger, one of the most influential—and controversial—philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Breaking sharply from his mentor, Edmund Husserl, Heidegger challenges over 2000 years of Western philosophy.  After the ancient Greeks before him, Heidegger turned to the question of being. According to Heidegger, philosophy should not be a 'rigorous science' but should instead wrestle with the fundamental questions of existence; what it means to be human. Kas and Sonia guide you through this challenging episode, as Kas modestly fanboys about his first philosophical love: Heidegger. We also find out that in philosophy and life, language is kind of a big deal. Let’s begin, finally!

11. 

    5 Dec 2024

    E06 Husserl

    Awee explores Edmund Husserl's transcendental phenomenology, guiding listeners through key fragments and influences to establish a firm understanding of the father of phenomenology.

12. 

    21 Nov 2024

    E05 Towards Husserl

    Awee guides Kas and Sonia through the crises of sciences, leading them to Husserl's doorstep, where they explore the value of 'zu den Sachen selbst' in philosophy.

13. 

    6 Nov 2024

    E04 Kierkegaard

    Kierkegaard · DOSTOEVSKY · Pseudonymous production · Boredom and DreadIn this episode, Awee discusses Kierkegaard's most important works and concepts. Meanwhile, Kas and Sonia give a mandatory Dostoevsky PSA and help us understand the work of Kierkegaard through the song Is That All There Is by Peggy Lee.Let's begin finally!PS As everyone knows, Philosophy is the friends you make along the way, so in the spirit of friendship, could you press the follow button and or/and give the podcast five ...

14. 

    14 Oct 2024

    E03 Towards Kierkegaard

    Kierkegaard · Slandering Descartes· First-person perspective· The Birth of Phenomenology · Irony In this episode “Towards Kierkegaard” Awee introduces the key concepts needed to begin understanding Kierkegaard's profound ideas. Meanwhile, Kas and Sonia shed nuanced light on the often-misunderstood Descartes, while Dostoevsky makes a welcome return. Let's begin finally! PS As everyone knows, Philosophy is the friends you make along the way, so in the spirit of friendship, could you press ...

15. 

    26 Sept 2024

    Trailer

    First philosophy invites you to begin philosophy with us anew. Edmund Husserl says philosophers must be eternal beginners, so in in this podcast we return to our beginnings: great lectures!Our first season centers around Dr. Awee Prins and the lecture series Human Conditions. Each episode is a dive into various philosophical themes, blending insights form great thinkers with contemporary issues and encouraging contemplative conversations on what it means to be human in an ever-changing world....

16. 

    25 Sept 2024

    E01 What is the Human?

    Introduction to Philosophy · What does it mean to be human? · Seeing-eye-dogs · Phenomenology · Edmund Husserl “What is man? There are no definite answers to this question.”In this first episode, Awee Prins explores the phenomenological approach, which tries to understand the world—not as a sum of objects or a totality of things but as a crossroads, a patchwork of different perspectives.Sonia and Kas introduce themselves and the First Philosophy podcas...

17. 

    25 Sept 2024

    E02 What is your Philosophy?

    The History of Philosophy · permanent Netflix · Plato · The Masters of Suspicion · · The world of ideas“Philosophy is a strange zigzag, and with a lot of zigzags to come that we don't even know about.”In the second episode, Awee continues exploring the phenomenological approach while questioning what it means to practice philosophy.Sonia and Kas take a moment to examine the nature of stories, specifically Awee's stories but also in the realm of literature. And also the first of m...

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Apple Podcasts (US)

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1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 18 / 100

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