Bringing Philosophy to Gaming, Not Gaming to Philosophy

Abstract

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a pedagogical intervention designed to cultivate critical, creative, and caring thinking in its participants. Unlike other pedagogical interventions, such as The Roots of Empathy program, which privilege social and emotional learning, Philosophy for Children places a greater emphasis upon its participants' capacities to think and reason (see, for example, Schonert-Reichl., et. al., Promoting Children's Prosocial Behavior in School: Impact of the 'Roots of Empathy' Program on the Social and Emotional Competence of School-Aged Children). Practitioners of this intervention attempt to realize these aims by fostering an environment for rational dialogue among a collection of ideologically-diverse individuals called a Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CPI).