Terms of Use

Last updated: August 1, 2026

These terms govern your use of the Council of Wisdom™ (the “Service”), a product of The Marcus Aurelius Institute™, owned by Keith David Whalen. By using the Service you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. Advisory output only

The Council of Wisdom™ provides advisory output only. Any decision to use, act on, or rely on these results is made solely by you, the human user, using your own judgment. Errors, omissions, inaccuracies, or unintended consequences remain your responsibility.

Responses are AI interpretations of historical thinkers’ published ideas. They are not the words of those people, and they are not professional advice. The Service is not a substitute for a lawyer, doctor, accountant, therapist, or other qualified professional. See our Trust & Safety page for what to do in urgent situations.

2. Acceptable use

Do not use the Service to plan, encourage, or carry out anything unlawful or harmful.
Do not upload documents you have no right to share, including other people’s confidential or personal information.
Do not attempt to disrupt, overload, or reverse engineer the Service.
Do not present the Service’s output as a professional opinion, or as the authentic words of any historical figure.

3. Your content

You keep all rights in the questions, documents, and recordings you bring to the Service. You grant us only the permission needed to process them so the council can respond. See the Privacy page for how that works.

4. Ownership and trademarks

Council of Wisdom™ — its concept, method, deliberation flow, and interface — is the intellectual property of Keith David Whalen. Patent pending. The marks Council of Wisdom™ and The Marcus Aurelius Institute™ are trademarks of Keith David Whalen. All rights reserved. The original works of the thinkers represented here are in the public domain and are freely available from Project Gutenberg.

5. No warranty

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that output will be accurate, complete, current, or suitable for any particular purpose, or that the Service will be uninterrupted or error free.

6. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Keith David Whalen and The Marcus Aurelius Institute™ are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, goodwill, or opportunity, arising from your use of, or reliance on, the Service.

7. Changes

We may update these terms as the Service develops. The date at the top of this page shows when they last changed. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated terms.

8. Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent to info@themarcusaureliusinstitute.com.