The School of Life

The School of Life
Traded as	Three 13 Solutions, Campus London LLP, ELOE Limited, STOA Limited.
Founded	2008; 16 years ago
Founder	Alain de Botton
Headquarters	London, England
Website	{{{1}}}

Short description: Social media company about self help

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.

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

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)
On Self Hatred (2022)

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]

The School of Life's YouTube videos have been criticized for allegedly promoting a nihilistic and pessimistic worldview. Some videos have also been criticized for promoting acts such as masturbation and for publishing explicit images of genitalia.^[11]

Despite praising the company for its critiques of romanticism and efforts to foster emotional intelligence using philosophy, Jeffrey Howard 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."^[12]

References

↑ "Campus London LLP – Overview (free company information from Companies House)". https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC328999.
↑ "International Opportunities". The School of Life. https://www.theschooloflife.com/about-us/schools/. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
↑ "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.
↑ ^4.0 ^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.
↑ "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.
↑ "Preparing for Anxiety Management Training". Anxiety Management: 1–18. 2017-04-28. doi:10.4324/9781315172941-1. ISBN 9781315172941. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315172941-1.
↑ "Faculty". The School of Life. http://www.theschooloflife.com/london/about-us/faculty-and-staff/. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
↑ "The School of Life | Your Path to Mental Wellbeing" (in en-GB). https://www.theschooloflife.com/.
↑ 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/.
↑ (in en) WORSE Philosophy Videos! School of Life on Eastern Philosophy - Lao Tzu, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3y7aiwp4sY, retrieved 2021-06-15
↑ Kastel (2017-10-19). "The School of Life: An Education of Ignorance" (in en). https://mimidoshima.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/youtube-is-great-and-all-but-the-bad-apples-are-really-bad/.
↑ Howard, Jeffrey (2019). "'The School of Life' Preaches Pessimism Over Romanticism." Erraticus. Retrieved March 18, 2023. [1]

External links

The Book of Life – online database material produced by The School of Life
Official YouTube Channel

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[1] "Campus London LLP – Overview (free company information from Companies House)". https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/OC328999.

[schooloflife-branches-2] "International Opportunities". The School of Life. https://www.theschooloflife.com/about-us/schools/. Retrieved 20 September 2016.

[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.

[Sydney_Herald-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] "Preparing for Anxiety Management Training". Anxiety Management: 1–18. 2017-04-28. doi:10.4324/9781315172941-1. ISBN 9781315172941. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315172941-1.

[7] "Faculty". The School of Life. http://www.theschooloflife.com/london/about-us/faculty-and-staff/. Retrieved 7 December 2016.

[8] "The School of Life | Your Path to Mental Wellbeing" (in en-GB). https://www.theschooloflife.com/.

[9] 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/.

[10] (in en) WORSE Philosophy Videos! School of Life on Eastern Philosophy - Lao Tzu, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3y7aiwp4sY, retrieved 2021-06-15

[11] Kastel (2017-10-19). "The School of Life: An Education of Ignorance" (in en). https://mimidoshima.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/youtube-is-great-and-all-but-the-bad-apples-are-really-bad/.

[12] Howard, Jeffrey (2019). "'The School of Life' Preaches Pessimism Over Romanticism." Erraticus. Retrieved March 18, 2023. [1]

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