The School of Life

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The School of Life
Three 13 Solutions, Campus London LLP, ELOE Limited, STOA Limited. [1]
Founded2008;16 years ago (2008)
Founder Alain de Botton
Headquarters
Website www.theschooloflife.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The School of Life is a British multinational [2] social media company founded in 2008 by British author and public speaker Alain de Botton. [3] [4] The company is headquartered in London. [5] It publishes various materials dealing with the topics of anxiety management, [6] emotional intelligence, relationships, work, creativity, and spirituality.

Contents

History

The School of Life was founded in 2008 [4] by a group of academics, including author Alain de Botton. The curator, Sophie Howarth, is assisted by psychotherapists, artists, and educators. [7]

Publishing

As of 2016, The School of Life owns a publishing press named "The School of Life Press." [8]

Books

Criticism

The company has been criticized for its representations of philosophers and philosophical arguments. The Los Angeles Review of Books 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." [9] 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 Tao Te Ching . [10]

Jeffrey Howard praises the company for its critiques of romanticism and efforts to foster emotional intelligence using philosophy, and argues that The School of Life offers "self-help for those who might need a bit more engagement with the intellect to consider the complete living that comes with also employing our faculties that operate from the neck down." [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laozi</span> Semi-legendary Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism

Laozi, also romanized as Lao Tzu and various other ways, was a semi-legendary ancient Chinese philosopher, author of the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism along with the Zhuangzi. Laozi is a Chinese honorific, typically translated as "the Old Master". Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as invented, and his opus a collaboration. Traditional accounts say he was born as Li Er in the state of Chu in the 6th century BC during China's Spring and Autumn period, served as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng, met and impressed Confucius on one occasion, and composed the Tao Te Ching in a single session before retiring into the western wilderness.

<i>The Art of War</i> 5th century BCE Chinese military treatise

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period. The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills or art related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. For almost 1,500 years, it was the lead text in an anthology that was formalized as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare, has influenced both East Asian and Western military theory and thinking, and has found a variety of applications in myriad competitive non-military endeavors across the modern world including espionage, culture, politics, business, and sports.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. People with high emotional intelligence can recognize their own emotions and those of others, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, and adjust emotions to adapt to environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain de Botton</span> British philosopher and author (born 1969)

Alain de Botton is a Swiss-born British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apathy</span> State of indifference, or the suppression of emotions

Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, virtual, or physical life and the world. Apathy can also be defined as a person's lack of goal orientation. Apathy falls in the less extreme spectrum of diminished motivation, with abulia in the middle and akinetic mutism being more extreme than both apathy and abulia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellect</span> Ability to recognise, compare and link patterns.

In the study of the human mind, intellect is the ability of the human mind to reach correct conclusions about what is true and what is false in reality; and includes capacities such as reasoning, conceiving, judging, and relating. Translated from the Ancient Greek philosophical concept nous, intellect derived from the Latin intelligere, from which the term intelligence in the French and English languages is also derived. The discussion of intellect can be divided into two areas that concern the relation between intelligence and intellect.

Affluenza is a pseudoscientific psychological idea that wanting more assets or acquirable objects is a way to gain influence. It is a portmanteau of affluence and influenza, and is used most commonly by critics of consumerism. It is not a medically recognized disease.

<i>Status Anxiety</i> 2004 book by Alain de Botton

Status Anxiety is a nonfiction book by Alain de Botton. It was first published in 2004 by Hamish Hamilton; subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books.

Steven Poole is a British author, journalist, and video game theorist. He particularly concerns himself with the abuse of language and has written two books on the subject: Unspeak (2006) and Who Touched Base in My Thought Shower? (2013).

Positive mental attitude (PMA) is a concept first introduced in 1937 by Napoleon Hill in the book Think and Grow Rich. The book never actually uses the term, but discusses the importance of positive thinking as a contributing factor of success. Napoleon, who along with W. Clement Stone, founder of Combined Insurance, later wrote Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, defines positive mental attitude as comprising the 'plus' characteristics represented by words as faith, integrity, hope, optimism, courage, initiative, generosity, tolerance, tact, kindliness and good common sense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain LeRoy Locke</span> American philosopher and writer (1885–1954)

Alain LeRoy Locke was an American writer, philosopher, and educator. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect—the acknowledged "Dean"—of the Harlem Renaissance. He is frequently included in listings of influential African Americans. On March 19, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed: "We're going to let our children know that the only philosophers that lived were not Plato and Aristotle, but W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke came through the universe."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert de Botton</span> Egyptian-Israeli-Swiss financial pioneer (1935–2000)

Gilbert de Botton was an Egyptian-Israeli-Swiss financial pioneer, who is considered the inventor of the open architecture model of asset management, whereby a financial institution offers third-party products to their clients. He was also a prominent art collector.

<i>The Consolations of Philosophy</i> 2000 book by Alain de Botton

The Consolations of Philosophy (ISBN 0-140-27661-0) is a non-fiction book by Alain de Botton. First published by Hamish Hamilton in 2000, subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Butler-Bowdon</span>

Tom Butler-Bowdon is a non-fiction author based in Oxford, England.

John Armstrong is a British writer and philosopher living in Hobart, Australia. He was born in Glasgow and educated at Oxford and London, later directing the philosophy program at the University of London's School of Advanced Study. Armstrong was philosopher in residence at the Melbourne Business School and senior adviser to the vice-chancellor of Melbourne University until 2014. In 2014 he became a professorial fellow at the University of Tasmania. He is the author of several books on philosophical themes.

Philippa, Lady Perry, is a British integrative psychotherapist and author. She has written the graphic novel Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy (2010), How to Stay Sane (2012), The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (2019). The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read *(and maybe a few you don't) (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brené Brown</span> American academic, speaker and author

Casandra Brené Brown is an American professor, social worker, author, and podcast host. Brown is known for her work on shame, vulnerability, and leadership, and for her widely viewed 2010 TEDx talk. She has written six number-one New York Times bestselling books and hosted two podcasts on Spotify.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insignificance</span> Emotional feeling or mental state

People may face feelings of insignificance due to a number of causes, including having low self-esteem, being depressed, living in a huge, impersonal city, comparing themselves to wealthy celebrity success stories, working in a huge bureaucracy, or being in awe of a natural wonder.

<i>Religion for Atheists</i> 2012 book by Alain de Botton

Religion for Atheists: A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion is a book by Alain de Botton published in 2012. It argues that while supernatural claims made by religion are false, some aspects of religion are still useful and can be applied in secular life and society. Religion for Atheists was published in the UK in hardback edition by Hamish Hamilton, and in the US by Pantheon. Religion for Atheists was a New York Times non-fiction bestseller, and has been widely reviewed, with mixed results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Philosophy, King's College London</span> Academic department at Kings College London

The Department of Philosophy is an academic division in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at King's College London. It is one of the largest and most distinguished centres for the study of philosophy in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. "Campus London LLP – Overview (free company information from Companies House)".
  2. "A Brief History of the School of Life". Happiness.com. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  3. "The School of Life: An Interview With Alain de Botton". HuffPost . 12 May 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 Wyndham, Susan (29 June 2016). "Alain de Botton and his School of Life come to Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  5. "Londoner's Diary: Alain De Botton and his school exit Europe". London Evening Standard . 10 April 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  6. Dynes, Robin (28 April 2017). "Preparing for Anxiety Management Training". Anxiety Management. pp. 1–18. doi:10.4324/9781315172941. ISBN   9781315172941.
  7. "Faculty". The School of Life. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. "The School of Life | Your Path to Mental Wellbeing". The School of Life. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  9. Levy, Lisa (11 May 2013). "How To Think More (But Not Better): Alain de Botton's School of Life". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  10. WORSE Philosophy Videos! School of Life on Eastern Philosophy - Lao Tzu, archived from the original on 20 December 2021, retrieved 15 June 2021
  11. Howard, Jeffrey (2019). "'The School of Life' Preaches Pessimism Over Romanticism." Erraticus. Retrieved March 18, 2023.