Academics
EthosForge
Navigate ethical dilemmas across science, technology, history, and daily life with an AI Socratic tutor. Build ethical reasoning through structured debate, perspective-taking, and case analysis.
Meet your mentor
Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, praises, and patiently scaffolds learning. On-device AI personalizes the mentor's responses to your kid's progress — never connecting to a server, never collecting data.
#4A6FA5 EthosForge is a philosophy garden where you think about big questions! Should you always tell the truth? Is it ever okay to break a rule? Navigate ethical dilemmas with an AI tutor who asks you questions (instead of just giving answers), build argument maps to organize your thinking, and debate with
Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
EthosForge's 5-character framework-advocate cast embodies the canonical ethical-reasoning traditions — consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, care ethics, contractualism — via a FLIPPED METHODOLOGY: characters are *interlocutors*, not *answer-keys*. UNIQUE DESIGN CONSTRAINT (UNIQUE in the entire Wave 3 retrofit cluster): equal screen time / equal speaking quality / equal visual sophistication / no mentor-student framing within the cast / no 'right answer' framing / equal humor distribution / no gendered cultural stereotypes / animal-headed framing. Solo-advocate scenes BANNED; every kit surfaces at least 2 advocates so the kid stays in the *judge* seat. Per `ethosforge-app/Docs/HANDOFF_FROM_LABSMITH_DISTRIBUTED_NARRATIVE_RETROFIT.md` (Wave 3, shipped 2026-05-21 — site backfill 2026-05-22 Wave 32a). Catchphrases ~6-8 words each, simple grade-4 vocabulary, template-locked — no advocate gets a 'wittier' line. Mentor (code-side 'Ethos' / site 'Lyceum' — flagged reconciliation item separate from this backfill) is the only voice that scaffolds reasoning quality; NEVER endorses a framework. Pre-existing sage_*.webp mascot re-slugged to ethos_*.webp (Phase A rename — visual unchanged).
Consequence
Consequentialism / Utilitarianism — calm, methodical; weighs trade-offs; capybara at a balance-scale
Duty
Deontology / Kantian — upright, principled; sticks to rules even when costly; heron in vest on one leg
Virtue
Virtue Ethics / Aristotelian — steady, earnest; 'what kind of person do I want to be?'; badger tending a plant
Care
Care Ethics / Noddings + Gilligan — attentive, present; 'ethics begins in relationship'; otter listening beside empty spot
Contract
Contractualism / Scanlon + Rawls — collaborative; 'what could we ALL agree to?'; beaver drawing a fair-rules table
What's inside
Dilemma Cards
Each dilemma presents a tricky situation with no easy answer. Read the scenario, consider different viewpoints, and make your choice. There are no "wrong" answe
Argument Maps
Organize your thinking visually. Drag and connect boxes to show how your reasons support your conclusion. See how different people can reach different answers u
Socratic Tutor
The AI tutor does not tell you what to think. Instead, it asks questions that help you think deeper. "Why do you believe that?" "What if the situation was diffe
Philosophy Garden
Walk through a garden filled with famous philosopher characters. Talk to Socrates, Confucius, and others to learn their ideas and perspectives.
Mentored by Lyceum — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How EthosForge handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ No ads, no in-app purchases — you pay once
- ✅ COPPA compliant under the 2026 FTC amendments
- ✅ Parental controls + session limits + content filters built in
EthosForge runs on ForgeKit — the open-source Swift Package Manager framework that powers every Spark & Anvil app. ForgeKit ensures consistent accessibility, COPPA compliance, and design language across the portfolio, so your kid's progress and preferences feel coherent across every app they touch.
Coming to the App Store
EthosForge is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.
Email me at launch