Free Philosophy Courses: How to Start Learning Philosophy

You can start learning philosophy today with free philosophy courses—no tuition, no application. The best way to start is to pick one guided learning path that matches your interest (ethics, knowledge, meaning) and work through it at your own pace. You'll read great texts, reflect on prompts, and optionally have a Socratic dialogue with a philosopher. No signup is required to browse; create an account when you want to save progress, join the forum, or build argument maps.

Below: how to choose your entry point, what you get from free philosophy courses, and how to use paths, the forum, and an argument mapping tool—without spending a dollar.

Why learn philosophy?

Philosophy sharpens how you think: it asks what we mean, what we can know, and how we ought to act. Whether you care about ethics, knowledge, or the nature of reality, philosophy gives you concepts and practice in critical thinking and clear argument. You don't have to become an academic. You just have to be willing to read, reflect, and have your assumptions questioned. Free philosophy courses that only offer video lectures can teach you about philosophy; the ones that give you texts, prompts, and dialogue let you do it.

How to start with free philosophy courses

1. Pick a learning path — Curated learning paths take you through great texts step by step. You read, reflect, and optionally have a Socratic dialogue with a philosopher. No signup required to browse; create an account to save progress. Each path has a difficulty label (beginner, intermediate, advanced) so you can match your level.
2. Try the roadmap quiz — Not sure which path fits? The path quiz suggests a path based on your interests and time. It takes a few minutes and narrows the list so you're not staring at dozens of options.
3. Join the discussion — The philosophy forum lets you read and join debates. See how others reason and share your own views. Good for testing ideas before or after a path.
4. Map arguments — The Argument Cartographer is a free argument mapping tool. You build visual argument maps and get feedback on structure and fallacies. Use it on claims you meet in a path or in the forum.

Your first session can be as short as one path step and one reflection prompt, or as long as a full path plus a Socratic dialogue. There's no deadline. The point is to start with one thing and stick with it until you have a clear next step. Many people browse paths without an account, do one or two steps, then create an account when they want to save progress or start a dialogue. That's fine. Free philosophy courses work when you show up consistently, not when you binge once.

Who free courses are for

Free philosophy courses are for anyone who wants to think more clearly and read primary texts without paying tuition. They're especially useful if you learn by reading and arguing rather than by watching lectures; if you want to test your views in dialogue; or if you've tried video courses and found yourself passive. They're not a replacement for a degree if you want to teach or do research—but they are enough to get a serious introduction to ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, and more. We've written a comparison of free philosophy courses (MIT, Coursera, edX, and schrodingers.cat) so you can see how different options stack up.

Philosophy for beginners

If you're new, start with a path marked beginner. These introduce core ideas and primary texts without assuming prior study. You can also read Philosophy for Beginners: First Steps for more guidance. Don't try to "finish" philosophy. Pick one question or one tradition, work through it, then decide what to read next from the philosophy map or the quiz.

What you get on schrodingers.cat

• Free philosophy courses as guided learning paths—no video lectures required; you read and reflect.
• Socratic dialogues with historical thinkers (from your dashboard) so your views get questioned, not just summarized.
• Argument mapping to visualize and critique arguments, with a built-in logic linter.
• A philosophy forum for discussion and debate with others who are learning.

The main difference between schrodingers.cat and most free philosophy courses is the mix: you're not only watching lectures or reading a syllabus. You're reading primary texts, answering reflection prompts, and optionally having a dialogue that questions your assumptions. That mix suits people who learn by doing. If you prefer video courses, MIT OpenCourseWare or Coursera might fit better; we've compared them in Best free philosophy courses compared.

Where to go from here. After you've done one path or one dialogue, use the philosophy map to see where your thinker or tradition sits in history, or run the path quiz again for a new suggestion. If you're interested in ethics specifically, read our introduction to ethics; if you want a reading list by theme, see Philosophy reading list: where to start. Do I need to sign up? No. You can browse all learning paths and take the path quiz without an account. Create one when you want to save progress, post in the forum, build argument maps, or start a Socratic dialogue. How long does a path take? It varies. A beginner path might be a few hours total if you read and reflect; you can do it in one sitting or over several days. Summary. Free philosophy courses on schrodingers.cat are learning paths plus Socratic dialogue and argument mapping—all free. Pick one path or take the quiz, browse without signing up, and create an account when you want to save progress or join the forum. For a side-by-side comparison with MIT, Coursera, and edX, see Best free philosophy courses compared. Bottom line: pick one path or take the quiz, do the work, then decide what's next from the map or forum.

Browse learning paths →

Key takeaway: Free philosophy courses here are guided paths through great texts, plus optional Socratic dialogue and argument mapping. No signup required to browse.