About

A home for philosophy

Coordinates of Thought is a home for philosophy where every tradition is welcome. Its purpose is simple to say and slow to accomplish: to help each person find where they stand on the questions that matter, and to understand the people who stand somewhere else.

We believe philosophy belongs to everyone who has wondered what is real, what can be known, how to live, or how to die well. The site is free to read for anyone, and membership is free.

What makes it different

All traditions on one map. Most places teach philosophy as a single line running from Athens to Paris. Here, Greek & Roman, Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Jewish, Persian, African & Africana, Latin American, Japanese & Korean, Medieval Christian, Modern European, Analytic, Continental and Buddhist thought share nine categories. A question about free will can draw on Augustine, the Stoics, Spinoza and the Buddhist teaching of dependent origination in the same thread, because that is how the questions have actually been asked.

Structured formats. Discussions, Questions, Debates and Reading Groups each shape conversation differently. A Debate has a thesis and sides. An Explain question can have an accepted answer. A Reading Group moves through one text a section at a time. Structure makes it easier to disagree well.

Thinker profiles in every spelling. Every thinker has a profile with dates, places, key ideas and major works, and is searchable by every common spelling and native name. Nobody should miss Ibn Rushd because they searched for Averroes.

Writing that is read before it is published. Journal essays and topics from new members are read by an editor before they appear. We care more about thoughtful work than about volume.

Who runs it

Coordinates of Thought was founded by Syed Raheel Shahzad, author of The Coordinates of Thought. The site is looked after day to day by its editors, who read new posts, handle reports and keep the map in order.

Contact the editors

For questions, corrections, appeals, partnership ideas or anything else, write to the editors at info@coordinatesofthought.com. We read every message, and we especially welcome corrections. If we have got a date, a name or an idea wrong, we want to know.