The School Of Life is a social media company that offers advices about life issues. It was found in 2008 and has its headquarter in London, with branches in Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul, Paris, São Paulo, and Taipei. The company offer advices on many topics, including finding work, navigating relationships, managing anxiety, and having an impact on the world. It provides psychotherapy and bibliotherapy services, both online and in-person at physical shops.
History
The School of Life has several founders, including author Alain de Botton. Its curator Sophie Howarth is assisted by psychotherapists, artists, and educators. The staff includes philosophers Mark Vernon, Robert Rowland Smith, and Roman Krznaric.
Publishing
In 2016, The School of Life started its own publishing press named The School of Life Press. It has published over fifty books, some of which are mental health books for children. In 2019, a collection of the School of Life's ideas was published under the title of : 'The School of Life: An Emotional Education'.
Books
Great Thinkers (2016) Relationships (2017) How to overcome your childhood (2018) Anxiety (2019) Big Ideas for Curious Minds (2019) What they forgot to teach you at school (2020) The Good Enough Parent (2021)
Criticism
The School of Life has been criticized for some of its representations of philosophers and philosophical arguments. The Los Angeles Review of Books has criticized a series of books by the School of Life as being a "vortex of jargon pitched somewhere between the banal banter of daytime talk shows and the schedule for a nightmarish New Age retreat." Professor Hans-Georg Moeller of the University of Macau has criticized the School's video on Lao Tzu, stating that it used fabricated quotes and misrepresented the Dao De Jing.
While praising the School of Life for its critiques of romanticism and efforts to foster emotional intelligence through philosophy, Jeffrey Howard argues it is a less rigorous philosophy than it is "self-help for those who might need a bit more engagement with the intellect in order to consider the more complete living that comes with also employing our faculties that operate from the neck down."