Educating Open‐Mindedness through Philosophy in Schools

Abstract Closed‐mindedness is a characteristic trait of irresponsible believers. For this reason and others, educators should actively discourage closed‐mindedness in their students. One way to do this is to cultivate its opposing virtue: open‐mindedness. Drawing on the work of William Hare, Danielle Diver defends the status of open‐mindedness as an epistemic virtue and explains why it is truth‐conducive, even in epistemically hostile environments. Diver goes on to argue that open‐mindedness is fundamental to the practice of philosophy and that teaching philosophy in schools, especially through the methods of Philosophy for Children (P4C), is an effective way to cultivate open‐mindedness in students. Teaching philosophy therefore has a valuable role to play in the education of responsible believers.