PhiloGPT offers you the chance to talk to philosophers in preparation for your philosophy exam. In a playful and sometimes humorous way, we can develop a familiarity with the texts while enjoying the satisfaction of the illusion of a real exchange that creates a closeness with characters that many of us consider to be very distant.
In 2025, PhiloGPT features 31 philosophers and two additional characters, the child and the teacher. The child asks the user questions, while the teacher provides summary sheets based on Vivien Mirebeau’s lectures. It should be noted that other philosophers could be included by the designer, provided that sufficient digital sources are available for free access.
After choosing a philosopher, a sentence greets the user, who also sees suggested questions in case he or she doesn’t know what to ask, as well as a list of the main concepts.
You can ask the philosopher any questions you like (within the realms of philosophy). But the philosopher also invites you to think for yourself.
We can :
• choose the level of the answer you want (beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert) and the length of the answer (a sentence, a paragraph, a page, a course),
• set up groups of 2 or 3 philosophers to discuss. The first answers the question and then asks the other for his or her opinion,
• see the themes in the final year syllabus,
• display summary bibliographical information for each philosopher,
• download the sources used in the philosopher’s response in docx format.
Vivien Mirebeau suggests two pedagogical applications for the classroom, in addition to independent use by future baccalaureate holders and anyone with an interest in ideas:
1) Adopt a philosopher
The students have a week to talk to the various philosophers and each choose one of them to become the class specialist. They will write a report on the subject, and will be able to present their theses for the rest of the year.
2) Prepared essay
The theme of the next assignment is announced, along with a short list of philosophers. Everyone is invited to draw up a mind map at home (theses, oppositions, common points, quotations, etc.) which they can use on the day.
This is the interface for PhiloGPT, inspired by Whatsapp, is very easy to read and is immediately adopted by everyone.
To work on essay methodology, Vincent Mirebeau suggests another application, Methodophilo, in which ChatGPT is used to evaluate productions. Before using it, it is advisable to look at the video which explains how it works. For a subject, the application begins by asking you to identify the concepts and then define them. Then you have to construct the problem. Help is provided on how to do this. You then construct a plan in two or three parts before starting to write. Templates are provided, as well as practice exercises to work on the specific elements of the essay, from the hook to the opening, with the option of having each exercise assessed by the tutor. Other exercises provide practice in philosophy: fill-in-the-blank texts, reconstructing texts, identifying logical connectors, defining concepts, determining a thesis. The tutorial section provides methodological support. While the assessment does not replace that of a teacher – proposed by ChatGPT – it must be considered critically and sometimes repeated, the activities proposed are very useful for preparing for the philosophy baccalaureate.