About schrodingers.cat
We’re a home for the philosophically curious: free philosophy courses, Socratic dialogue, argument mapping, and a place to think clearly and argue well.
Who we are
schrodingers.cat exists to make philosophy and critical thinking accessible. We believe the best way to understand an idea is to read carefully, map your reasoning, and put your views to the test—through guided learning paths, one-on-one Socratic dialogue, and a community forum where you can discuss and debate.
A note on our blog authors: The bylines you see on our articles (Jack Willis, Lily Nguyen, Jordan Ellis, and so on) are fictional—like Schrödinger’s cat. We use them as a thought experiment: a way to give the blog a variety of voices and perspectives without pretending they’re real people. Fitting, we think, for a philosophy site.
What we offer
- Learning paths — Free philosophy courses that take you from first page to first principles. Each path combines primary texts, reflection prompts, and optional Socratic dialogue.
- Argument Cartographer — A tool to map arguments: premises, conclusions, and evidence. Build maps, check for circular reasoning and contradictions, and share them in the forum.
- Philosophy forum — A place to discuss ideas, share argument maps, and debate with others who care about clarity and good reasoning.
- Philosophy map — Explore how thinkers and ideas connect across traditions and topics.
Who it’s for
Whether you’re new to philosophy or already deep in the weeds, we’re built for anyone who wants to think more clearly and argue better. You can browse our free philosophy courses and read our blog without an account. To use the forum, Socratic dialogues, and Argument Cartographer, creating an account is quick and free.
Get started
Explore learning paths, try the Argument Cartographer, or join the forum. No payment required.
Last updated: 2025-02-20
Frequently asked questions
schrodingers.cat is a free platform for learning philosophy. You can follow guided learning paths, join a philosophy forum, build argument maps, explore a philosopher knowledge graph, analyze texts with AI, and have Socratic dialogues with historical thinkers—all designed to help you think clearly and argue well.
Yes. Learning paths, the forum, argument mapping, the philosopher graph, text exploration, and Socratic dialogues are free to use. You can create an account at no cost to save progress and join discussions.
No. You can browse learning paths, read path content, and explore the site without an account. Signing up lets you save your progress, post in the forum, build and save argument maps, and start Socratic dialogues.
Learning paths are guided sequences through philosophical topics: primary texts, short reflection prompts, and optional Socratic dialogue. You work at your own pace. Paths cover ethics, epistemology, aesthetics, and more. You can rate them and join the discussion.
You choose a philosopher (e.g. Aristotle, Nietzsche, Simone de Beauvoir) and have a conversation that follows the Elenchus method: your assumptions are questioned until clarity emerges. The dialogue has stages of questioning, contradiction, and resolution, with automatic fallacy detection on your arguments.
The Argument Cartographer is a tool for building visual argument maps with premises, conclusions, and evidence. A built-in logic linter flags circular reasoning, contradictions, and unsupported claims. You can export maps as PNG or share them to the forum.
Learning paths take you through great texts and prompt you to reflect; Socratic dialogues (from your dashboard) question your assumptions until you reach clarity; and the Argument Cartographer lets you map arguments and spot fallacies. Together they practice reasoning, reading, and arguing well. Start with a learning path or try a dialogue.