The Community of Inquiry as a Means for Cultivating Democracy

Abstract

The paper discusses the claim that philosophy for children (PfC) fosters democracy. The authors consider multiple meanings of democracy, and against what they see as a strong liberal tradition in most Western democracies, they opt for what might be termed an inquiry-based model: democracy as a set of social habits of being critical of the status quo and of turning to group inquiry to solve the problems and realize the possibilities that are uncovered by, thus, being critical. The authors point out that the establishment of democratic political structures is necessary but not sufficient to creating social democracy, especially when citizens may employ a market (voting-your-preference) or a technocratic (abdicate to appointed experts) model of solving collective problems and pursuing collective opportunities. (edited)