As an intellectual cooperative, a forum for debate and a knowledge workshop, La Vie des idées crosses disciplinary boundaries, while striving to remain accessible to as many people as possible. Consultation of the site and subscription to newsletters are entirely free.

Its vocation is to offer quality information on intellectual life and editorial news, both French and international, as well as contributions on the major issues of our time, in the form of in-depth essays, interviews and reviews.

La Vie des idées is attached to the Institut du Monde Contemporain (Collège de France) and directed by Pierre Rosanvallon.