Organization:The School of Life

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The School of Life
Three 13 Solutions, Campus London LLP, ELOE Limited, STOA Limited.[1]
Founded2008; 18 years ago (2008)
FoundersAlain de Botton, Sophie Howarth
Headquarters
London, England
Website{{{1}}}

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. The company also offers talks, workshops, and counseling services.

History

The School of Life was founded in 2008[4] by Alain de Botton and Sophie Howarth. Its publishing arm was launched in 2016, with books produced by a content team, some of which were (in 2023) training to the be therapists.[7][8]

Publishing

As of 2016, The School of Life owns a publishing press named "The School of Life Press."[9] As of 2025, the company's website sells 98 titles in its "books" category, some of which are workbooks.

Books (incomplete selection)

  • Great Thinkers (2016)
  • Relationships (2017)
  • Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person (2018)
  • 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)
  • On Self Hatred (2022)
  • How Modern Media Destroys Our Minds (2022)
  • Big Ideas From Literature (2024)[10]

Reception

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."[11] 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.[12]

The New Republic criticised The School of Life's self-help books for being poorly written and pretentious with little or no useful insight.[13]

The philosophy blog, Erraticus, praised the company for its critiques of romanticism and efforts to foster emotional intelligence using philosophy, arguing 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."[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Campus London LLP – Overview (free company information from Companies House)". https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC328999. 
  2. ↑ "A Brief History of the School of Life". Happiness.com. https://www.happiness.com/magazine/personal-growth/brief-history-school-of-life/. Retrieved 2 February 2024. 
  3. ↑ "The School of Life: An Interview With Alain de Botton". HuffPost. 12 May 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-matousek/the-school-of-life-an-int_b_9916166.html. Retrieved 2017-06-20. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wyndham, Susan (29 June 2016). "Alain de Botton and his School of Life come to Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/alain-de-botton-and-his-school-of-life-come-to-sydney-20160628-gptzip.html. Retrieved 2017-06-20. 
  5. ↑ "Londoner's Diary: Alain De Botton and his school exit Europe". London Evening Standard. April 10, 2017. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/londoners-diary-alain-de-botton-and-his-school-exit-europe-a3511641.html. Retrieved 2017-06-20. 
  6. ↑ Dynes, Robin (2017-04-28). "Preparing for Anxiety Management Training". Anxiety Management. pp. 1–18. doi:10.4324/9781315172941. ISBN 9781315172941. 
  7. ↑ "By combining self-help and literature, the School of Life’s first novel does both a disservice". The Guardian. July 7, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/07/school-of-life-a-voice-of-ones-own-therapy-novel. 
  8. ↑ "Faculty". The School of Life. http://www.theschooloflife.com/london/about-us/faculty-and-staff/. Retrieved 7 December 2016. 
  9. ↑ "The School of Life | Your Path to Mental Wellbeing" (in en-GB). https://www.theschooloflife.com/. 
  10. ↑ Dillon, Melanie (2024-04-28). "Big Ideas From Literature by The School of Life" (in en). https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/childrens-book-reviews/big-ideas-from-literature/. 
  11. ↑ Levy, Lisa (2013-05-11). "How To Think More (But Not Better): Alain de Botton's School of Life" (in en-US). https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/how-to-think-more-but-not-better-alain-de-bottons-school-of-life/. 
  12. ↑ (in en) WORSE Philosophy Videos! School of Life on Eastern Philosophy - Lao Tzu, 17 March 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3y7aiwp4sY, retrieved 2021-06-15 
  13. ↑ "How to Be a Pseudo-Intellectual". The New Republic. January 3, 2013. https://newrepublic.com/article/111550/alain-de-botton-school-of-life-how-to. 
  14. ↑ Howard, Jeffrey (2019-11-05). "'The School of Life' Preaches Pessimism over Romanticism" (in en-US). https://erraticus.co/2019/11/05/pessimism-romanticism-school-of-life-de-botton/. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
  • The Book of Life – online database material produced by The School of Life
  • Official YouTube Channel



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