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Short answers to the questions people ask most.
Getting started
Everything you can read here is open without an account: the philosophers, their works and the Canon. The four chat modes — Dialogue, Debate, Curator and Sophia — need an account with a confirmed email address and a subscription. If you were given an invite code, redeem it under Billing in your account instead.
Dialogue
One philosopher answers you in the first person, in that thinker's own voice, drawing on their own works. You can keep the conversation to one of their books.
For good answers: ask one question at a time, in your own words, and push back where you disagree. An objection makes a better conversation than a request for a summary.
Debate
Two philosophers argue a question you choose, each from their own works. A debate moves from opening remarks through an exchange to closing remarks. Between turns you can steer it with a question of your own, and Conclude takes it straight to the closings. Nobody declares a winner: the judgement is yours.
For good debates: choose two thinkers who really disagree, and put the question so that either side can argue it.
Curator
The Curator is a guide to the library. Bring a question, a theme or a curiosity: it names the thinkers who bear on it, says how they differ, cites the passages, and may suggest a way in — a conversation, a work, a philosopher's page. Ask for an essay and it writes one from the whole library.
For good answers: say what you are after. “Where should I start with the Stoics?” gets further than “Stoicism”.
Sophia
Sophia reads across every work held here and makes a case of its own, citing the passages it rests on. It is one reading among possible others, never the final word. Use it for a question you can't yet put to a single thinker.
For good answers: ask about an idea, not about your own situation. Sophia examines the question and gives no personal advice.
Citations and translations
Each number in an answer is a citation. Open it to read the passage that line rests on and the work it comes from, and to see it in its surrounding text. A passage in another language can be translated in place; the translation is marked as a machine translation, and the original stays the source of record.
The library
Every answer draws on the texts held here. Browse them by thinker under Philosophers, or by work in the Canon. Each work has one page, however many translations or volumes it has. The library grows, and members find new works announced in The Record on their home page.
Your weekly allowance
A subscription includes a weekly allowance of chat. When it is used up, the chat modes pause until it renews on Monday; reading, the library and your saved conversations stay open meanwhile. A single very long answer can also reach its own limit, and what was written up to then is kept. If you send many messages in quick succession, you may be asked to wait a moment.
When something goes wrong
If an answer fails or stops halfway, try again: many problems pass on a second try. When there is a known problem or planned maintenance, members see a notice at the top of The Record, and a mode that has been paused says so on its own page. If a problem keeps coming back, use “Report this problem” under the error, or write to us.
Signing in and access
To chat you need to be signed in, with a confirmed email address and an active subscription or beta access. If you are asked to sign in again, your session has ended. If the confirmation email did not arrive, look in your spam folder, then send it again from the chat page. Forgot your password? Use “Forgot password?” on the sign-in page. A conversation that will not open has been deleted, or belongs to another account.
Your account and your data
Under Your data in your account you can download a copy of everything we hold about you, see how long we keep it, and delete your account. Deleting it erases your conversations and cannot be undone. If you can no longer sign in, write to us and we will send you a link that does the same.
Age
The chat modes are for people aged 16 and over. If you are 16 or 17, you need the consent of a parent or guardian to subscribe. The philosopher and work pages are open to everyone.
Subscription and cancellation
There is one plan, billed monthly; the price is on the pricing page. You can cancel at any time with “Cancel contracts here” at the foot of every page, without signing in. To withdraw from a contract, use “Withdraw from a contract” beside it.
Not answered here? Write to us