Human Conditions

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In the podcast series Human Conditions Julien, Rolf and David zig-zag through time and space, travelling through philosophical history, investigating a condition that affects us all: the human condition.

Last refreshed: August 15th, 2025 at 7:03 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

E08 Isabelle Stengers

In our final episode, we will discuss the relevance of the ‘human’ in light of the current historical period, which is sometimes called the Anthropocene. Through the work of Isabelle Stengers we want to investigate some of the most pertinent questions facing the “human” today? Allons-y!

Jan 18, 2025•42 min•Ep. 8

E07 Levi-Strauss & Viveiros de Castro

Our philosophical search for the human condition has been a relatively provincial undertaking considered solely from the perspective of Europe and European philosophy. Yet what about philosophical anthropology — that is, what does the confrontation with different cultures mean for this Enlightenment subject? Today, we will discuss this confrontation based on the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss, one of the most central figures of structuralism, and we will discuss both criticisms and continuations of...

Jan 12, 2025•56 min•Ep. 7

E06 Sartre, De Beauvoir & Foucault

In our search for human conditions, we continue our zig-zag journey through philosophical history. Today we are slightly deviating from the format in discussing three thinkers: Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault. Sartre wrote a play in 1944 called Huis clos which depicted hell as a house with three people in it, who constantly interrupt one another — that’s hell, for him. So let us enter this hell: we begin with the two existentialists in the first half and go on to Foucaul...

Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 6

E05 Arendt & Anders

In our search for human conditions, we continue our zig-zag journey through philosophical history. After Heidegger's contemplations on being, Hannah Arendt turned away from endless reflections on ontology in response to the rise of tyranny. For Arendt, to be human is to begin anew, to start something fresh. It’s still another story with Anders. He observes that the human condition seems to involve that we increasingly start to think of ourselves as defective pieces of equipment. And offers a cri...

Dec 13, 2024•56 min•Ep. 5

E04 Helmut Plessner

Helmut Plessner - Excentric Positionality - Vital Categories The human,” Helmuth Plessner tells us, “lives only insofar as he leads a life”, our way of life isn't given in advance. It isn't determined by nature. No answers are given in advance, there is no underlying model, no all determining blue-print. Today we talk about Helmut Plessner, a lesser-known philosopher, but not less important. Allons-y!

Nov 22, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 4

E03 Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche - Dyonysian/Appollonian- The Death of God "Be aware that when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster. For when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." Welcome to this week's podcast episode. We, David, Julien, and Rolf will discuss human conditions. What is philosophical anthropology? Why is it important? Is it important? What is the human? Today we will discuss the incomparable Friedrich Nietzsche. Allons-y!...

Nov 17, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 3

E02 Husserl & Heidegger

Edmund Husserl - Phenomenology - Intentionality - Sein und Zeit - Martin Heidegger In these podcasts, we zig-zag through space and time, traveling through philosophical history, attempting to address a condition that affects us all: the human condition. We will see that there might not be a single condition but many ways of being a human, multiple conditions. And are we even human? Today we talk about the founder of Phenomenology: Edmund Husserl and his most famous disciple Martin Heidgger. Lets...

Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 2

E01 Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant - What can I know? - What should I do? - What may I hope? - What is the human? In these podcasts, we zig-zag through space and time, traveling through philosophical history, attempting to address a condition that affects us all: the human condition. We will see that there might not be a single condition but many ways of being a human, multiple conditions. And are we even human? Immanuel Kant, the most influential Enlightenment philosopher, summarizes his project as follows: “All in...

Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 1

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