Philosophy doesn't feed you answers. It helps you to think and to ask the right questions. It points to some useful directions where your search for meaning may bear fruit.
Our eleven-session introductory course Practical Philosophy: Wisdom is a great way to begin exploring life's big questions in a fun and accessible way with a group of like-minded others. The group meets alternately in person and online.
Continue after the introductory term in our follow-on group. Philosophy and Freedom is open for online booking this autumn.
The study continues in follow-on and senior groups, and in a year-long course. Places in these are arranged with your tutor and the office, not booked online.
Every introductory student gets:
Learning modules
On all the key themes, to study at home in your own time
Practice sheets
To support your practice and record your observations
Study and Practice Day
At an inspiring countryside retreat, to consolidate your learning
YouTube channel
Free talks on Plato's Cave, Stoic philosophy, Sanskrit and meditation
Online tutorials
Alternate Tuesdays, 7.15 to 8.45pm, on Zoom
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Three voices from people who have studied with the School in St Albans.
I have found the classes really helpful.
In a busy world … a welcome retreat for reflection and discussion.
Definitely need Philosophy now more than ever.
Service means giving time freely, without seeking reward, from tutoring to the everyday work that keeps the School running. A short film from students on what it gives, and what it asks.
Enquiry, practice, community, and justice. One journey, entered from any direction.
Practical philosophy studied, practised, and lived for nearly 90 years
Valuing real-life experience over theory
Practise philosophy with philosophers
How do we ensure freedom and prosperity for all?
Open evenings, public lectures, and special events. All are welcome.
An enriching selection of interactive philosophic presentations, in person at 11 Mandeville Place and simultaneously on Zoom.
Henry George Foundation Open Day. The Land Trap and the Growth Paradigm: Liberation from the Tyranny of Ideas. In-person at 11 Mandeville Place, London W1U 3AJ and online via Zoom. In association with the School.
The School Leader on what practical philosophy is for.
Nine decades, three traditions, one sustained enquiry.
he School was founded in London in 1937 as an enquiry into economic justice. Over the decades that followed, its work widened to include the philosophy of Plato and the Stoics, and from 1965, the practice of Advaita Vedanta under Shri Shantananda Sarasvati.
A small London study group has become a community across continents, organised around the same sustained acts: study, practice, and weekly return.
An evening lecture, a language tradition, and a season of residential retreats. Each open in its own time.
An evening of fresh translation.
Each year a scholar presents newly translated work from the Sanskrit tradition to a public audience. In 2026, Warwick Jessup launched Dispassion. All are welcome.
The language behind the philosophy.
Introductory Sanskrit for students on Philosophy courses with no prior knowledge. Those with some knowledge may join the appropriate level of the Foundation Course.
A house, a garden, and time enough.
A programme of residential retreats at Waterperry House in Oxfordshire, Nanpantan Hall in Leicestershire, and Brinscall Hall in Lancashire. Courses in philosophy, the arts, and contemplative practice. Open to those attending for the first time and to returning students.
Philosophy classes for adults in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with London headquarters a short journey away. Three houses across England hold the School's retreat life. The wider network of UK branches and associated Schools overseas carries the work around the world.
The headquarters of the School since 2002.
A Marylebone townhouse a few streets north of Oxford Street. Classrooms, a library, and a small conference hall. Most London courses and public events are held here.
11 Mandeville Place, London W1U 3AJ
Retreats across England continue the School's residential life.
The work continues in St Albans and in locations across the UK, and in associated Schools abroad.
We're a charity and a school of philosophy, dedicated to helping people like you find meaning in their lives by exploring timeless, universal wisdom.
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