Twenty-six centuries of argument, told as one story
The Great Conversation is a 55-lesson history of philosophy that follows who answered whom — from a man in Miletus who thought everything was water to philosophers arguing about whether a machine can understand. Written for the curious reader. No prior philosophy assumed.
$79 one-time, plus applicable taxes · Full access
Read 5 lessons free first — no account neededyears of argument, from Thales to the age of AI
philosophers met by name, Athens to Baghdad to Paris
lessons across 11 modules, in chronological order
How the course works
Not a parade of names and dates. One conversation, in the order it happened, with the connections left in.
What's in the box
Everything included, for one payment.
- 55 lessons, about 20 minutes eachRoughly 20 hours of reading in total, at a suggested four to five lessons a week — about eleven weeks, though it tolerates binge-readers.
- 11 module overviewsEach module opens with its own essay, a mini-timeline, and a recap of where the conversation stands before you go on.
- A glossary of every termEvery piece of technical vocabulary the course introduces, defined plainly and linked back to the lesson that introduced it.
- Timeline and who-is-whoOne chronology from Thales to the 2020s, and an alphabetical cast of every philosopher discussed, with dates.
- Reading pathwaysA 20-lesson fast track through the spine of the story, plus five thematic routes for a focused interest.
- Printable PDFsAll four appendices typeset for print, in A4 or US Letter — whichever you set on your account.
One price, the whole conversation
No subscription, no tiers, no upsells.
Frequently asked questions
Why study philosophy?
You are already doing it, just without the help. Should you trust what you read online? What do we owe strangers? How do you live well when you know you will die? Thinkers have been taking them up since the ancient Greeks, and the best of their arguments still hold up. Philosophy will not hand you answers, but it will sharpen how you think and help you face the hard questions of life that are worth answering.
Do I need to have studied philosophy before?
No. Nothing is assumed, and every technical term is explained the first time it appears. The course is written for anyone who is curious, whatever your background or education.
Is this only Western philosophy?
It is a survey of the Western tradition, but that tradition is not only European. The medieval module gives Islamic and Jewish thinkers lessons of their own, as full participants rather than a detour, and the capstone looks at the global turn now under way.
How long does it take?
Each lesson is about 20 minutes, so around 20 hours in total. At the suggested pace of four or five lessons a week that is eleven or twelve weeks — but nothing expires, so read it however you like.
Can I try the course before buying?
Yes. You can read 5 lessons in full, with no account needed: Socrates, Augustine, Descartes, Hume, and the existentialists. They are ordinary lessons, not samplers — read one end to end and you will know exactly what you are buying.
Do the quizzes count for anything?
No. They are self-checks with the answers one click away, there to show you what a lesson left loose. Nothing is graded, and they are entirely optional.
How do payment and access work?
A single one-time payment, handled by Stripe. There is no subscription and nothing to cancel. It unlocks every lesson, appendix, and download, with free updates as the course is revised, on any device, for as long as the course is offered.
Join the conversation
$79 one-time, plus applicable taxes, for the whole course and every future revision. Read 5 lessons free before you decide.