PhilosophyThe StorytellerBeginner
Philosophy for Living, a free philosophy course on Tomo

Philosophy for Living

Like Duolingo, but for Philosophy for Living. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

27 levels across 3 sections, about 54 minutes end to end, roughly 11 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Navigating Life's Challenges, Questioning What We Know, and Reimagining the World. It starts from scratch.

27 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Phil the Philosopher Owl, the guide who teaches the Philosophy for Living course
Philosophy for Living
with Phil the Philosopher Owl
27
Levels
3
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Philosophy for Living

  • External events are outside your control
  • Visualizing setbacks removes surprise
  • Judgment and response are within your power
  • Rehearsing difficulties builds emotional callouses
  • Anxiety stems from controlling the uncontrollable
  • Anticipating trouble allows for calm
  • Dichotomy of control in stress
  • Premeditatio Malorum purpose
  • Obstacles provide the specific context needed to practice virtues like courage or patience
  • The 'path' is not blocked by the problem; the problem becomes the path
  • Applying the dichotomy of control to a stressful situation
  • External hindrances cannot stop the mind from choosing a virtuous response
  • Virtue is its own reward and does not require an audience
  • Using Premeditatio Malorum to neutralize the shock of setbacks
  • Seeking 'fame' or 'approval' makes your happiness dependent on others
  • Stoic success is defined by the quality of your choices, not your reputation
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Philosophy for Living the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Mastering the Inner Citadel

Imagine you are about to give a big presentation. Why would a Stoic suggest you first visualize the projector breaking?

Get it right to open this lesson and 26 more in the app.

Course map

Where Philosophy for Living takes you

Explore the most powerful ideas in human history to build a resilient mind, find meaning in the chaos, and question the nature of reality itself.

  1. 1

    Navigating Life's Challenges

    • Stoic Resilience
    • Creating Meaning in a Silent Universe
    • Navigating Right and Wrong
  2. 2

    Questioning What We Know

    • Finding Peace in Uncertainty
    • Seeing Through Multiple Lenses
    • Describing the Raw Experience
  3. 3

    Reimagining the World

    • Facing the Void
    • The Mind in Everything
    • Thinking Beyond Contradiction

3 sections · 9 units · 27 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Storyteller

Philosophy for Living is taught in the The Storyteller style: every lesson is a story. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start Philosophy for Living today.

Download Tomo, search Philosophy for Living, and play your first lesson in under a minute.