Syntropise · Have a philosopher in your life

When people come to us

The things that matter most deserve our deepest questions.

Sometimes it’s a decision that won’t settle.
Sometimes the way a team works has stopped making sense.
Sometimes nothing’s wrong at all. You’ve just got interested, and want to take it further.

You don’t need to know which philosopher to read. That’s part of why we’re here.

Something needs examining “It’ll never mean as much to them as it does to me.” “My organisation has grown, but I no longer like how it works.” “I’ve become very successful at something I’m no longer sure I believe in.” Which sounds like you? Something’s worth exploring “I’ve been reading philosophy, and I’d love someone knowledgeable to explore it with.” “I’ve spent years developing professionally. I’d like some serious time on my own understanding of life.” That’s me

You already have a philosophy. Much of it arrived without you noticing. It’s worth finding out what’s in there.

What it’s actually like

A year with people who get to know how you think.

Sometimes it’s a difficult conversation about what you’ve built.
Sometimes it’s a short passage from a philosopher you’d never have picked up.
Sometimes it’s an hour on something none of us has quite worked out yet.

Unlike a website, it gets more interesting the better we know each other.

The curators

You’ll get to know them. They’ll get to know you.

An applied philosopher and a chartered psychologist. Between us, decades spent on how people learn, think and judge.

More about us

Dr John Stoszkowski

Applied philosopher

Former senior lecturer, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and author of thirty-odd papers on how people think and learn.

Favourite objectNietzsche’s hammer

Dr David Priestley

Chartered psychologist

HCPC-registered. Decades inside elite football and rugby, global businesses and senior teams, and a long fascination with the philosophy underneath how people behave.

Favourite objectSchopenhauer’s porcupines

Two ways in

Something for yourself, or for your organisation.

Individual Membership

A year, not a programme.

Start with The Ground. After that, no syllabus: Sartre one month, mortality the next, whatever happened on Tuesday. One-to-one, or with a few others.

What builds up: a vocabulary, better questions, changed minds, a philosophy of your own, and two people who know how you think.

Length: A year, renewable
Fee: £12,950
You’ll need: Curiosity

Explore membership Arrange a private viewing

Organisational Partnership

Organisations have philosophies too.

They’re rarely written down, and they decide more than the strategy does. We work with organisations willing to examine theirs.

What builds up: a shared language, better disagreements, decisions you can explain.

For: Senior leaders and their teams
Starts with: The Ground
Terms: Agreed with you

Explore partnership Talk to us

Case file No. 1

What a year can look like.

Tim JohnsDirector, Octopus Electric Vehicles

1He came for frameworks.
2He met wu wei.
3He changed how he led.
4He kept going.

Open Tim’s case file

The visitors’ book

What people wrote on the way out.

1–2 of 8

Provenance

Previously handled by people from

While you’re here

Please touch.

Thirty-six thought experiments you can pick up and play with: a ship that loses its planks, a lion that roars at a dragon, a cave full of shadows. Some take thirty seconds. All of them come with homework.

Open the cabinet

and thirty-five more

Visitor information

Open: Whenever a question won’t leave you alone.
Admission: A year at a time.
Guided tours: None. Follow what catches your eye. Ring for a curator if you get lost.
Lost property: Old certainties, mostly.
Gift shop: There isn’t one.
Reservations: Twelve tables set tonight. Take a seat.
Screenings: A short film, whenever you like. Pull the cord. Ray has his own.

Please don’t feed the frog.

Before you ring

Not sure where you’d start?

An essay you can handle

You already have a philosophy.

Have you ever really examined it?

Pick the sentence that sounds most like you. Hold a lamp over it and see what it quietly takes for granted.

Pick a sentence

No. 3“I’ve become very successful at something I’m no longer sure I believe in.”Underneath: I am what I’ve achieved. No. 6“It’ll never mean as much to them as it does to me.”Underneath: If they cared, they’d do it my way. No. 7“I’ve been reading philosophy, and I’d love someone knowledgeable to explore it with.”Underneath: Philosophy lives in books.

Three of eight. See them all

Private viewings by appointment

Ring for a curator.

Whichever door you came in by, you’re in the right place.

Tell us what’s on your mind, or what you’ve been reading. The first conversation costs nothing, and you don’t need to prepare a thing.

Or write to hello@syntropise.com